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Kaliningrad: Kaliningrad Oblast
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Kaliningrad Oblast (Polish: Krolewiec, German: Nord-Ostpreussen) is one of the numerous Russian [O]blasts (admininstrative subdivisions). Kaliningrad Oblast is interesting in that is situated between Poland and Lithuania making it physically separated from the rest of Russia. It was briefly known as Kyonigsberg (Кёнигсберг), a translation of its German name to Russian prior to being renamed Kaliningrad a few years after WWII. Many towns in Kaliningrad Oblast are on the Baltic Sea coast, and have beautiful sandy beaches.
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Unfortunately, relatively few travelers make their way to Kaliningrad Oblast, although Kaliningrad is a unique area in Russia. It is not only the westernmost, the youngest and the smallest region, but the territory of Kaliningrad Oblast is isolated from the rest of the country. Kaliningrad is an enclave, a disconnected wedge of Russia that lies between Lithuania, Poland and the Baltic Sea. The awareness that they live on the foreign soil and are faced daily with the examples of the Western life, gives the population of Kaliningrad a different view of nationhood, national identity than in other parts of Russia.
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Kaliningrad did not become a gateway to Europe either. On the contrary: Afflicted by daunting economic, political, and social problems, Kaliningrad was described by Western observers as a "black hole" in the center of Europe. Today the oblast no longer receives the heavy subsidies it enjoyed during the Soviet era, and it has experienced greater dips in its agricultural and manufacturing sectors than other Russian regions. To make matters worse, the region's residents and political leadership complained that the authorities in Moscow have ignored them, or have adopted conflicting policies that have exacerbated the oblast's economic problems.
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This last point is important because Kaliningrad relies heavily on its trade with foreign countries for its economic need. This was having an adverse effect on the economy of Kaliningrad because many local producers could not compete with the goods that were flooding the market from other countries. In 1999 there were 6,150 registered small enterprises and firms in the oblast, which accounted for only 20 percent of the economic activity of the population of the region, bringing in only about 12 million dollars of taxes.
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Kaliningrad has received a significant proportion of finance from the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership (NDEP). The Commission is the main donor to the EBRD-lead NDEP Fund. The Fund is currently implementing (or is about to launch) big water rehabilitation, solid waste and heating projects in the oblast.
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The Kaliningrad exclave’s ethnic make-up is unmistakably Russian. Today the population of the Kaliningrad oblast numbers around 927,000 people, of this 683,600, or 78.5%, are ethnic Russians. The other countries that may have possible claim to the territory (Poland, Lithuania and Germany) combined to only about 2% of the population.
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Kaliningrad Oblast