Vinnitsa, Ukraine - twinned 1991

Useful websites and contacts

For details of the Vinnitsa Charitable Trust:

Location

The city of Vinnitsa is situated in the centre of one of the 25 regions of the Ukraine, about 220km from the capital Kiev. It has a population of about 460,000 and was established over 600 years ago and is situated on the banks of the southern part of the river Bug.

Economy

It is the industrial, transport, agricultural, cultural and educational centre of the region. The main industrial and manufacturing activities of Vinnitsa are chemical production, motors, radios and TV lamps. Vinnitsa is known as an agricultural area with sugar beet as the main crop. A highly developed sugar industry has been established.

Geography

There are deposits of granite, limestone, clay and sand. In several areas mineral spring water is found. The river and lakes have an abundance of fish and the region of Vinnitsa is covered with mixed forests.

Education

There are many different types of educational establishments indcluding the Medical University, the Agricultural Institute, the Technical University and schools. Some of the secondary schools provide specialist training in butchery, baking, dairy and technical training. Nowadays there are several private schools as well as state schools.

History

The history of Vinnitsa is one of struggle against foreign invaders. The area was long populated by Slavs. In the middle of the 13th century hordes of Mongolian-Tartar invaders captured much of the east Slavonic lands and introduces a feudal system. Annexation of Ukraine to the Russian Empire in 1793 put an end to the continuous devastation suffered from Turkish-Tartar attacks and Polish enslavement.

For almost the whole of the 19th century Vinnitsa remained a remote provincial town, even after the reform of 1861 and the fact that development of capitalism was progressing quite quickly. In 1871 the railway line between Kiev-Odessa was built which ran by Vinnitsa and further promoted the development of the town.

After the revolution and civil upheavals of 1917 conditions were difficult and harsh when the restoration of the national economy began. During World War II the Germans invaded Vinnitsa. Many thousands of citizens were tortured or killed and some were transported to work in Germany.

In the more recent history of this area, the Ukrainian parliament passed a declaration of sovereignty in July 1990 and August 1991 declared Ukraine independent of the Soviet Union. Ukraine became a charter member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (ICIS) in December 1991. With the proclomation of the sovereignty of the Ukraine and the resultant emergence of democratic powers, Vinnitsa raised the Ukrainian blue and yellow flag in its main city square.