Kramatorsk – Vital Machinery Building Centre of Donetsk Oblast
One of the many cities within the Donetsk Oblast is that of Kramatorsk, which gained its city status in 1932. Kramatorsk is known as an important machinery building center for the Donetsk region. It is located in the east of Ukraine about 80 kilometers north of Donetsk and boasts a population of over 200,000 people. This, however, has caused a bit of controversy and conflict as most believe that a large majority of this population count includes the surrounding areas under the governing city council of Kramatorsk. This may be attributed to the first railway station that was built in 1868 and resulted in much of the population growth in the area, which may have spread further a field in the 18th century. This brought much of the conflict mentioned before to the fore, as well as influencing much of the industrial growth that took place around the same time.
This bustling city lies along the beautiful Kazennyy Torets River within the Donets Coal Basin. It is here that a variety of commodities are produced, such as: mining and railway machinery, chemicals, cast and forged metal, ceramics, food products, building materials and consumer goods, to name just a few.
Today the Donets Coal basin is regarded by the locals by the common names of ‘Donbass’ or ‘Donbas’, which is an economical, historical and cultural region lying inside the present Ukraine territory. The central and northern section of Donbas falls under the Donetsk Oblast, while the south falls under Pryazovia, which in itself is part of the Luhansk Oblast. The north is part of Slobozhanschyna, while the center is in Luhansk and Donetsk.
The Donets region was given its name for the late 19th century coal field that was found in the area and named after the Donets River. It was only in 1676 that the first town emerged called ‘Solanoye’, which is now known as ‘Slavyansk’. Its fame and fortune was built solely on the newly-discovered and greatly profitable rock salt reserves. However, not long after the discovery of the rich coal fields was revealed, an “Industrial boom” began that is still evident in Kramatorsk today.