Cherepovets, Vologda Oblast, Northwestern Federal District, Russia

🇷🇺 Cherepovets is a city in Vologda Oblast, Russia, located in the west of the oblast on the banks of the Sheksna River (a tributary of the Volga River) and on the shores of the Rybinsk Reservoir. It is the most populous city in the oblast.

The passing years have left their mark on the city's appearance. Large-scale housing and industrial construction have been carried out in the city. Over the past years, hundreds of new multistory blocks of apartments, detached and semi-detached houses were built in Cherepovets.

Not only is Cherepovets an industrial city, but also it is a centre of culture, education, and sport, with associations of local writers, poets, actors, painters, composers, and journalists.

The city invests in sport and sports clubs. Cherepovets' athletes regularly compete in international and internal competitions. The Severstal Cherepovets hockey club is well known in Kontinental Hockey League. The Severstal basketball team, as well as the chess team, are a part of Russian Major League.

Economy Cherepovets is an important industrial centre in north-western Russia, mostly known as the country's largest steel manufacturing plant, with exports going to more than 50 countries around the world.

Metallurgy The city began growing rapidly with the construction of steel mills in the late 1930s. The first blast furnace was put into operation in 1955. The first Cherepovets iron was produced in August 1955 and steel in May 1958. In February 1959, the first ingot was rolled in a blooming mill, and in November of the same year, the first hot-rolled plate was produced.

Nowadays, complex processes of iron and steel production are highly automated. The workshops have been modernized according to the latest advances in engineering and technology of metal production. The joint-stock company 'Severstal' (LSE, MOEX) is a global exporter of ferrous and nonferrous metals: iron, steel, hot-rolled plates, cold roll-formed shapes, and other products.

Chemical industry The second largest industry in the city is the chemical industry. Its main production area is concentrated in mineral fertilizers. PhosAgro (LSE, MOEX) is the largest producer of phosphate-based fertilizers and phosphoric and sulfuric acids in Europe. It is also one of the leading producers of NPK fertilizers, ammonia, and ammonium nitrate in Russia.

As an outcome of the high volume of metallurgical and chemical production, Cherepovets is one of the most heavily polluted cities in the world. According to a 2011 assessment, the city ranked second only after Norilsk, Russia.

Transportation Cherepovets is served by Cherepovets Airport, which is a hub for Severstal Air Company. Cherepovets has rail and road access to Vologda, the administrative centre of the oblast, to Moscow, the capital of Russia, and to St. Petersburg. In addition, it is served by Cherepovets Trams which has been active since 1956. The location by the Sheksna River makes water transportation down the Volga–Baltic Waterway possible, with further access to the Baltic Sea. The first-ever cable-stayed bridge in Russia, Oktyabrsky Bridge was built in the city in 1979.