Bălți, Moldova

🇲🇩 Bălți is a city in Moldova. It is the second largest city in terms of population, area and economic importance, after Chișinău. The city is one of the five Moldovan municipalities. Sometimes also called "the northern capital", it is a major industrial, cultural and commercial centre and transportation hub in the north of the country. It is situated 127 km north of the capital Chișinău, and is located on the river Răut, a tributary of the Dniester, on a hilly landscape in the Bălți steppe.

Geography Bălți is situated on the tops and slopes of three hills and in two small valleys. The land in the north of Moldova is very fertile, mostly consisting of black earth or chernozem. Several extraction sites for raw materials used in the construction industry are also found in the vicinity of Bălți. The creeks Răuțel, Copăceanca, and Flămândă cross the territory of the municipality, and flow into the river Răut. Also, several lakes are situated in Bălți: City Lake, Komsolskoe Lake, Hunters and Fishermen Lake, Strâmba Lake.

The municipality covers an area of 78.0 square km (30.1 sq mi), of which the city proper 41.42 square km (15.99 sq mi), the village Elizaveta (an eastern suburb) 9.81 square km (3.79 sq mi), and the village Sadovoe (a north-western suburb) 26.77 square km (10.34 sq mi). Of these, an important portion (20.11 square km (7.76 sq mi)) is agriculturally cultivated.

Neighbourhoods The city itself is located on portions of three hills. The river Răut separates one of the hills to the north-east, the slopes of this hill are occupied by the neighbourhood Slobozia. Răut's affluent Răuțel separates another hill in the south, the slopes of which are the Podul Chișinăului. The largest of the three hills dominates the valleys of the creek and river, and contains the city centre and the old town, and the neighbourhoods Pământeni, Dacia, 6th district, 8th district, the city's main industrial area, and Molodova neighborhood. The top of this hill is occupied by the medical facilities district. Bălții Noi neighborhood is situated in the valley of the Răuțel creek.

A Soroca neighborhood, 10th district, 9th district, the area of the former Bălți concentration camp, and the Bălți City Airport are situated in the valley of the Răut river.

The names of city neighborhoods reflect different historic influences, such as names of 19th century suburbs that are nowadays within city limits: Pământeni, Slobozia, Molodova, Podul Chișinăului, Bălții Noi; others are known by their Soviet-era names: 6th district, 8th district, 9th district. A neighbourhood in the northern part of the city is called Dacia, and is colloquially sometimes referred to as BAM. A district in the eastern part is known as 10th district.

Economy Historically Bălți was known for producing tobacco. They also had many vineyards and orchards.

Most of the city's industry centres on food processing, notably in the production of flour, sugar, and wine. Manufacturing of furniture and agricultural machinery also plays an important role in Bălți's economy.

The service sector has developed after 1989 to cover the basic needs of the population.

Manufacturing This city is an important economic centre, with manufacturing playing an important role. Besides traditional for Moldova wine making, sugar, meat processing, flour milling, oil production, and light industry in general, Bălți is the centre for manufacturing of agricultural machinery, of various construction materials, fur, textile, chemical and furniture industries. A mammoth Soviet-type conglomerate 8,000-worker factory produced a large variety of machine building products for consumer or industry use, from irons and telephone sets to sonar equipment for Soviet military submarines. However, due to swift changes in the economic environment after the breakdown of the Soviet planned economy system, the manufacturing base of the city has severely suffered. Nevertheless, more recently, new economic ties are being created, with collaboration and direct investment mostly from the European Union.

Lisa Dräxlmaier GmbH celebrated the inauguration of its second plant in Moldova. The facility, which will be located in Balti, will produce wiring harnesses. The plant has about 13,000 square metres (140,000 square feet) of production and logistics space.

Economy: Retail Bălți has several major shopping chain outlets, such as the German Metro Group AG, Ukrainian Fourchette and Moldovan Fidesco.

Numerous shops, can be found in the central (retail), eastern (en gros) and northern (retail) parts of the city. The biggest shopping galleries are located in the centre and in the Dacia district (north) of the city. Souvenir boutiques are mostly found around the central square Vasile Alecsandri. The central market is open from early morning.

A variety of small private stores and supermarkets are available. There are also six public-owned and four private-owned markets. More recently several supermarket chains have opened stores in the city.

Health facilities The city has a big Republican hospital, another multifunctional municipal hospital, a children's hospital, and a range of other medical facilities (smaller clinics and hospitals, as well as buildings, named poly-clinics, gathering doctors offices).

Education: University • The Alecu Russo University of Bălți, the second largest university in Moldova, named after the 19th century Romanian scholar and ethnologist Alecu Russo. The university houses one of the biggest libraries in the South-Eastern Europe. It is a public university. • The private Dniester Institute of Economy and Law • The private Moldovan Branch of the non-governmental educational institution "Baltic Institute of Ecology, Politics and Law" • The private Humanist Contemporary Institute

These schools teach either in Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian, English or are mixed. The latter case was inherited from the Soviet system, which provided for education in Russian and Romanian (Moldovan) languages, where mixed schools were created with the administration being carried out in both languages.

Historical monuments • Saint Nicolas Cathedral (1795) • Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (1884) • Saint Gregory Armenian Church (1916) • Saint Constantine and Helen Cathedral (1935) • Saint Parascheva Church (1934) • Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul (1929) • Church of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel (1933) • Bălți Bishopric (1934) • Vasile Alecsandri National Theatre • Matrimonial Palace • History and Ethnography Museum • A monument of Stefan the Great (2003) • Bust of Mihai Eminescu • Bust of Vasile Alecsandri • Bust of Taras Shevchenko (2001) • A monument to soldiers killed in Afghanistan (1999)

Tourist industry Main hotels include: Hotel Astoria • Hotel VisPas • Hotel Bălți • Hotel Tinerețe.

Architecture Cultural venues in the city include: • Vasile Alecsandri National Theatre • The oldest surviving building, a two-story boyar house, right in the heart of the city centre, dates back to 1609. Though it has been re-constructed and re-modeled many times with total disregard to conservation to the extent that now it simply looks like an odd two-story building. • Monument of Stephen the Great (2003) • Others (see down through the text)

Churches: • Saint Nicolas Church, Bălți (1795). Although Orthodox, the building, financed by Gheorghe Panaiti, has a degree of catholic influence brought in by the architect Antuan Weismann from Galicia. • Saint Constantine and Elena Cathedral, Bălți (1934), Orthodox, built in neo-Byzantine style. The building, at which official opening the Romanian royal family was present, survived almost without visible effects the harsh treatment during the Soviet era. During this time it was mostly a depot and later turned into the municipal museum. • Bishopric Palace, Bălți (1924–1932), was the main office of the agricultural enterprise-institute "Selectia", and the surrounding park during the Soviet era. • Saint Parascheva Church, Bălți (1933), by the bishop Visarion Puiu. • Archangels Michael and Gabriel Church, Bălți (1912–1933) • Saint Peter and Paul Church, Bălți (1915–1929) • Armenian Saint Gregory Church, Bălți (1916) • Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church (1884).

Theaters: • Vasile Alecsandri National Theatre • "Eugène Ionesco" Theatre • "Licurici" Republican Puppet Theatre • "B.P. Hajdeu" Republican Drama-Muzical Theatre • "Mihai Eminescu" National Theatre • "Luceafarul" Republican Theatre • Municipal Theatre "Satiricus I.L. Caragiale"

Museums and art galleries: • "Exhibition of the Union of painters "Constantin Brâncuși" • Artum Art Gallery

Media • Deca-press, the oldest independent press agency in the north of the country. • Spros i Predlojenie, a major Russian language daily newspaper serving northern Moldova. • Gazeta.MD the News agency founded in December 2007. • Golos Bălți the city newspaper, founded in 1947. • Makler the advertising newspaper from Moldova and Ukraine. • Belicy-sity information and entertaining portal Belicy-sity.

Media: Radio List of FM radio stations from Bălți as of 4 July 2009. • 90.0-«Serebriannii dojdi» • 90.5-«Prime FM» • 92.00-«Retro FM» • 101.0-«Vocea Basarabiei» • 101.5-«City radio» • 102.1-«Radio ALLA» • 102.9-«BBC» • 103.5-«Vzrosloe radio Shanson» • 103.9-«Fresh FM» • 104.9-«Radio Moldova» • 105.6-«Megapolis Fm» • 106.2-«Russcoe Radio» • 107.2-«NOROC» • 107.6-«Hit FM»

Civil society Bălți is a source of civil society development both locally and nationwide. Bălți is home to numerous independent and apolitical organisations such as Second Breath, one of the Moldovan NGOs for care of socially vulnerable persons, Tinerii pentru Dreptul la Viață ("Youth for the right to live"), a youth organisation.

Sport • 7 sport schools in Bălți offer programmes in the following sports: Orienteering, volleyball, handgun shooting sports, equestrianism, basketball, handball, weightlifting, chess, swimming, canoeing, football, athletics, tourism. • Municipal Stadium "Olimpia Bălți Stadium" (home of FC Olimpia Bălți) • Olympic Swimming Pool "Central" • Olympic Swimming Pool "Volna" (open air) • FC Olimpia Bălți is a football club based in the city and plays in Moldova's top league, the Moldovan National Division.

Transport: Public Passenger transport in Bălți is handled mainly by the Bălți Trolleybus Authority and Bălți Bus Authority, as well as by private bus, minibus and taxi companies. The total number of passengers transported in Bălți in 2004 was 35.4 million.

There are around 25 minibus lines in Bălți and its agglomeration. The Bălți Bus Authority (B.B.A.) provides regular bus routes only in suburbs. There are also private bus and minibus services, which are not regulated by the B.B.A., provides regular routes in Bălți.

There are 3 trolleybus lines in Bălți, the fourth line being planned to be constructed in future. Most trolleybuses used by the Bălți Trolleybus Authority (B.T.A.) are different modifications of the Soviet ZiU-682, one Czech Škoda-14Tr13/6M, three Belarusian АКСМ–20101, and seven Russian Trans-Alfa 5298.00 (375).

Bălți offers a choice of taxi services, most of which operate for a fixed fee in the inner city. Three taxi companies are branches of Moldovan national companies, two taxi companies are Bălți registered businesses.

Transport: Road Bălți is an important transportation hub of Moldova. The best inter-city transportation is done by coach or van (privately or publicly owned). 135 km (84 miles) of Soviet-style highway (portions in good or fair condition) connect the city to the capital Chișinău. By road one can also reach Ukraine (in about 2 hours) to the north or to the east, and Romania (in about 1 hour) to the south-west by the Sculeni–Sculeni crossing point, which leads to the Romanian city of Iași (104 km (65 miles) from Bălți), or to the west by the Stânca–Costești crossing.

The Bălți Inter-City Coach Station provides for regular bus connections throughout Moldova, as well as for numerous European and international connections (Eurolines).

Transport: Rail Regular rail connections to Ocnița (north), Rezina (east) and Ungheni (south-east), as well as to Chișinău exists, however it takes today 6 hours to cover the 200 km (124 miles) to Chișinău. The railway lines are not electrified, and contain only a single track between stations. Since Moldova gained independence, the railway lines became the responsibility of Calea Ferată din Moldova (Railways of Moldova) state company.

There are two railway stations: Bălți-City Station and Bălți-Slobozia Station (the name of a city neighbourhood), which both serve internal and international traffic.

Transport: Air The city also has two operational airports. One of them, Bălți International Airport, 15 km (9 miles) north of the city centre (near the village of Corlăteni), was built in the 1980s, modern by Soviet standards, is officially certified. Large aircraft can land (one 2,200 meter runway), it operates both charter passenger and cargo flights. As of October 2007, it does not operate regular passenger flights.

A second airport, for small aircraft, Bălți City Airport, is located on the Eastern outskirts of the city. It was the most important airport in the surrounding region during World War II, but currently is only used for municipal and regional public services, agriculture, emergency services and pilot training.Now, there are developing an industrial area.