Natural resources and conditions of economic activity. Chechnya

Nadterechny municipal district is one of the fifteen municipal districts of the Chechen Republic. In addition to regional municipalities, the Republic also includes two urban districts - the city of Grozny and the city of Argun.

The municipal formation "Nadterechny municipal district" is located on the northwestern outskirts of the Chechen Republic. The Nadterechny region borders in the north with the Stavropol Territory and the Naursky region of the Chechen Republic, in the east and south with the Grozny region, in the southwest with the republics of North Ossetia-Alania and Ingushetia.

Internally, regional connections provide communication between the Nadterechny municipal district and neighboring municipalities, as well as with the capital of the Republic - the city of Grozny.

The territory of the region is divided into two geomorphological elements, which differ sharply from each other. The first geomorphological element includes the northern part of the area's land use, the second - the southern part.

The area of ​​the republic is 16.139 km. The population is 1.2 million people. The capital is the city of Grozny. Administratively, the republic is divided into 15 districts. It is located in the southeastern part of the North Caucasus, on the northern slope of the Caucasus Range and adjacent plains. In the west, the Chechen Republic borders on Ingushetia and North Ossetia, in the north - on the Stavropol Territory, in the north and east - on the Republic of Dagestan and in the south - with the Georgian Republic.

The southern border runs along the crests of the ridges, there are no clearly defined natural boundaries for the rest of the length and the border is drawn along imaginary lines. From north to south, the Chechen Republic stretches for 170, and from west to east - for 150 kilometers. The geographical position of the Chechen Republic is advantageous. Important railways and highways pass through its territory, connecting the main regions of the North Caucasus with the Transcaucasus and the European part of the country.

The Chechen Republic is a land of amazing contrasts of nature. It is rare to find such an extraordinary variety of natural landscapes in such a small area. The majestic beauty of mountain landscapes: snowy peaks and gigantic rocky cliffs, turbulent rivers and azure-blue lakes, dense forests and colorful subalpine meadows - is replaced on the plains by no less remarkable views of the endless steppe expanses, amazing pictures of the wavy sea of ​​sandy breakers, among which there are areas dune sands - typical landscapes of the deserts of Central Asia.

The nature of the Chechen Republic is not only diverse, but also rich. Its bowels store large reserves of "black gold" and building materials. Long hot summers and fertile soils make it possible to cultivate a wide variety of highly valuable agricultural crops. Extensive natural pastures serve as an excellent base for the development of animal husbandry. Mountain beech forests provide the most valuable timber. Diverse mineral springs, clean mountain air, abundance of sunshine, favorable climatic conditions, beautiful landscapes are the healing forces that can be widely used to organize recreation and restore the health of workers. The main reason that determines the diversity of the natural conditions of the Chechen Republic is the peculiarities of the structure of its surface.

Relief and minerals.

The varied relief of the surface of the Chechen Republic is due to its complex geological history. In a relatively recent geological period, here, as well as throughout the Caucasus, powerful mountain-building processes took place.

As a result of these processes, mountain folds appeared in some places, and troughs and depressions appeared in others. The primary relief, created by the internal forces of the earth, subsequently underwent profound changes under the influence of external forces: water, air temperature, and wind.

About half of the territory of the Chechen Republic is occupied by mountains and uplands, and the rest of the territory falls on lowlands and plains. Spread in the north of the republic Tersko-Kuma lowland, which is part of the vast Caspian lowland. Its flat surface has a slight slope towards the Caspian Sea. To the east of the village of Karga-linskaya, it lies already below the level of the ocean.

Representing a sagging section of the earth's crust, in historical times the Tersko-Kuma lowland was repeatedly flooded with the waters of the Caspian Sea and strata of marine sediments were layered on its surface. The rivers flowing into the ancient Caspian basin deposited in their mouths the fine detrital material they brought and created large sandy deltas.

Now these deltas have been preserved on the Tersko-Kuma lowland in the form of large sandy massifs. With their strongly hilly relief, they stand out sharply from the surrounding plains. Only the southern part of the Tersko-Kuma lowland belongs to the territory of the Chechen Republic. Almost three quarters of its entire area is occupied by the Pritersky sandy massif. Its eolian relief was formed under the influence of the eastern winds prevailing in the lowlands.

Here you can observe the most diverse forms of sandy relief. Ridge and hilly sands overgrown with herbaceous vegetation are widespread. And in the northern and eastern parts of the massif there are areas of loose sand dunes. Dune sands were formed as a result of dispersal of ridge sands. The reason that caused their dispersal was the destruction of the vegetation cover that held the sands together as a result of immoderate grazing or improper plowing.

Within the Tersko-Kuma lowland, the valley of the Terek River stands out. Its left slope here has a number of distinct terraces. The lower terraces are covered with forest and shrubs, swampy in places. To the south of the Terek River stretches Tersko-Sunzhenskaya Upland. It consists of two low ridges - Tersky and Sunzhensky, which are separated by the narrow Alkhanchurt valley.

Both ranges have a folded structure, highly complicated by numerous faults and secondary folds. They are composed of rocks of the Cenozoic age, among which shaly clays, sandstones, and conglomerates are common.

In many places, these rocks are covered from above with a thick layer of loose loess-like loams. The ridges have soft, rounded outlines. Their gently sloping, mostly soddy slopes are strongly dissected by numerous gullies and ravines. Both ranges rise towards the west. The height of the Sunzhensky Range reaches 872 meters (Mount Kurp), while individual peaks of the Tersky Range do not rise above 700 meters above sea level.

The Bragunsky and Gudermessky ridges can be considered a continuation of the Tersky Range in the eastern part, although in terms of their geological structure they are independent mountain folds. At the exit of the Alkhanchurt valley to the Chechen plain, between the Tersky and Sunzhensky ridges, there is a small Grozny Ridge, on which the Old crafts are spread. The Grozny ridge is connected by a narrow bridge with the Sunzhensky ridge. In the southeastern part of Grozny rises Novogroznensky ridge(New trades), or Aldynskaya hill, dissected by the Khankala gorge into two separate massifs.

Between the Terek Range and the Terek River, the Nadterechnaya Plain stretched out. Its width reaches 10-12 kilometers. It consists of several river terraces, ledges descending to the Terek. The space between the Tersko-Sunzhenskaya Upland and the front chain of mountains of the Caucasus Range is occupied Chechen foothill plain. The valley of the Sunzha River in the west connects it with the Ossetian foothill plain, part of which is within the territory of the Chechen Republic.

The Chechen plain in geological terms is a deep foothill trough in the form of a huge basin. During the epoch of the Quaternary glaciation, detrital material was deposited in this basin, which was brought by high-water rivers from the vast mountain glaciers at that time.

Glacial and alluvial deposits, consisting of boulders, pebbles, gravel, sand and clay, completely filled the basin and gave it the appearance of a plain inclined to the north. From above, these deposits are covered with young river sediments. The Chechen Plain is the most populated place in the republic. Over its entire area, large Chechen villages and Cossack villages are picturesquely spread out, immersed in the greenery of orchards. The entire southern mountainous part of the republic is located on the slope of the Greater Caucasus, which is the northern wing of the huge Caucasian fold.

The alternation in the sedimentary stratum of the northern slope of the Caucasus Range of strong and easily destructible rocks led to its division into a number of longitudinal ridges. Ridges formed where resistant rocks were exposed, and the valleys separating them arose where less resistant rocks were distributed.

Thus, four parallel ridges were formed, rising to the south in the form of giant steps. The northernmost of these ranges is black mountains- is composed mainly of sandy-clayey rocks of the Cenozoic age, which is why its relief has soft, rounded outlines of typical low mountains. Their height rarely exceeds a thousand meters above sea level.

From the foot to the peaks, the Black Mountains are overgrown with forest, which gives them a dark color from a distance. This is where their name came from. Low, with a strongly dissected relief, the Black Mountains are a zone of foothills.

South of the Black Mountains stretches Pasture ridge. In the west, it branches into two, and in some places into three separate ridges. It got its name from the abundance of beautiful mountain pastures on its slopes. Many peaks of the Pasture Range rise to a height of over 2 thousand meters.

Behind the Grassland Ridge rise sharp ridges and bizarre cliffs. Rocky ridge. The peaks of the Rocky Range reach a height of 3,000 meters.

The pasture and rocky ridges are composed of limestones of the Mesozoic age, have a different structure of their northern and southern slopes. The northern slopes, coinciding with the direction of the fall of the rock layers, are long and more or less gentle. The southern slopes, on the contrary, are short and break off with steep ledges. The landscape of the southern slope of the Rocky Range is especially majestically beautiful. Here, almost along its entire length, it forms a sheer cliff. And on this light limestone wall with a pinkish-yellowish tint, individual trees and shrubs are molded at a terrible height.

The river valleys crossing the limestone ridges have a peculiar structure. They alternate between narrow and wide sections. Where the river cuts into the strong limestone rocks that make up the ridges, its valley looks like a deep narrow gorge with steep rocky slopes. Even on a hot, sunny day, darkness and coolness reign in the gloomy gorges of such a gorge. River valleys are completely transformed in the gaps between the ridges. Here the mountains, as it were, part, forming vast light hollows, elongated along the river. The prevailing clayey composition of the rocks composing the basins determines here soft, rounded relief forms with gentle slopes. In such places, convenient for settlement, mountain villages are usually located.

A chain of silver-white snowy peaks stretches along the southern border of the republic. Lateral ridge. The Side Ridge is composed of sandy-argillaceous sedimentary rocks of the Mesozoic age. In this section of the Caucasus, the Lateral Range is almost 1,000 meters higher than the Main Range. The peak located on it Tebulos-Mta rises to 4,494 meters above sea level. This is the highest peak not only in the Chechen Republic, but also in the Eastern Caucasus.

In the Chechen Republic, the links of the Lateral Range are Piriki-Tel Range with the peaks of Tebulos-Mta, Kamito-Data, X-court (4271 m.), Donos-Mta (4178 m.) and snow ridge, the highest point of which is Mount Diklos-Mta (4274 m.).

All these peaks are covered with eternal snows and glaciers. The snow line in the Chechen Republic runs at an altitude of 3700-3800 meters. On the territory of the republic, glaciers are located in four groups. In the west, the first glaciers appear in the upper reaches of the Armkhi River. The next small group is concentrated on the top of Mahis Magali (3,986 meters). Further to the east, along the entire length of the Lateral Range to the top of Tebulos-Mta, there are no firn fields and glaciers. On Tebulos Mta, glaciers occupy both the northern and southern slopes. There are more and larger glaciers on the northern slope. The firn fields and glaciers have the most significant development in the fourth group, which stretches in a strip of 30 kilometers between the peaks of Kachu and Diklos-Mta. In total, there are 58 glaciers in the Chechen Republic with a total area of ​​27 square kilometers. Geography of the Chechen Republic -A.L.Ustaev

Natural features of the Republic of Chechnya

The Chechen Republic is located in the northeast of the North Caucasus and Eastern Ciscaucasia.

The western border runs with Ingushetia, in the northwest it borders with the Republic of North Ossetia Alania. The northern border runs with the Stavropol Territory, and in the east the border goes with Dagestan. The ridges of the Caucasian ranges separate it in the south from Georgia.

The length of the Republic from north to south is 170 km, and from west to east - more than 100 km.

A distinctive feature of the Republic is the exceptional diversity of natural conditions, which is clearly expressed in the soil and vegetation cover, in the differences in relief and climate.

Four parts are distinguished in the relief - flat, foothill, mountain, high-mountain:

• The flat northern part is occupied by the Terek sandy massif with a height of 0 to 120 m. In the northeast there is a flat plain of the Terek delta. The Gudermes Plain is located in the east;
• The foothill part is formed by the Tersky, Sunzhensky, Groznensky, Gudermessky ridges and an elevated plain south of the Sunzha River. The heights of this part are not more than 500 m. The Sunzha Plain adjoins the Black Mountains in the north;
• South of the Black Mountains is the Rocky Range;
• In the south of the Republic, the Side Range is located - this is a high-mountainous part of the territory. The heights here become much higher and reach 1000-2500 m.

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The temperate climate of the Republic varies with altitude and from north to south. The climate is formed in the process of interaction of local and general climatic processes. Hot and long summers, short and rather mild winters.

On the plains and in the foothills, the continental air of temperate latitudes dominates throughout the year.

The temperature distribution is greatly influenced by the height above sea level. The highest temperatures in the Tersko-Kuma lowland in July reach +25 degrees. On the Chechen plain +22…+24 degrees, and in the foothills already +21…+20 degrees.

With height, the January temperature decreases - on the Chechen plain the temperature is -4 ... -4.2 degrees, in the foothills -5 ... -5.5 degrees. At an altitude of 3000 m, it drops to -1, and in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bperpetual snow it is already -18 degrees.

Precipitation is unevenly distributed. The smallest amount of 300-400 mm falls on the Tersko-Kuma lowland, and towards the south it gradually increases to 800-1000 mm.

Remark 1

The Republic is characterized by dangerous geological processes, including seismicity, subsidence, scree, landslides, snow avalanches, landslides, mudflows, karst, erosion, floods.

The diverse climate and relief create preconditions for the diversity of the plant world. Forb-fescue vegetation is characteristic of the desert steppes of the Terek sandy massif in its northern part.

Solonchak-meadow and solonchak-marsh vegetation grows in the lower reaches of the Terek in the extreme north-east of the Republic.

Floodplain meadows in combination with shrub and forest vegetation grow in the depressions of the Terek and Sunzha valleys.

In more humid places, natural vegetation is represented by feather grass steppes. Oak forests grow in the low mountains, beech already predominates in the middle mountains.

Subalpine meadows are replacing continuous forest vegetation in the upper middle mountains. At an altitude of 1800-2800 m they occupy vast territories.

Alpine meadows begin at an altitude of 2700-3500 m.

Remark 2

The vast expanses of flat territories are almost all plowed up and cultural vegetation has replaced the natural vegetation.

Natural resources of the Republic

The main wealth of the Chechen subsoil is oil - there are about 30 hydrocarbon deposits in total. There are 20 deposits within the Tersky Ridge, 7 deposits on the Sunzha Ridge, and 2 deposits in the Black Mountains monocline.

Remark 3

Of the total number of fields, 23 are oil fields, 4 are oil and gas fields, and 2 are pure gas fields. Chechen oil is paraffinic in composition with a high content of gasoline.

Chechnya is rich in building materials. A large deposit of cement marls has been explored in the valley of the Chanty-Argun River. Huge reserves of limestone. In the Assinsky Gorge there are limestones of beautiful colors.

Between the rivers Gekhi and Sharo-Argun there are deposits of gypsum and anhydrite. Large deposits of sandstones of the Sernovodskoye, Semashinskoye, Chishkinskoye deposits.

Mumil and ocher are mined here from mineral paints.

Deposits of hard and brown coal are known, but the reserves and quality are low, so they have no industrial value.

Ore deposits have not been studied enough, there are several deposits of copper and polymetals in the upper reaches of the Armkhi and Chanty-Argun rivers.

Mineral sulfate-calcium hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen sulfide-chloride-sodium sources with high salinity and a high content of hydrogen sulfide are highly valued.

The Republic is insufficiently provided with underground fresh waters.

Surface waters are unevenly distributed - the mountainous part and the Chechen plain have a dense and branched river network. The territories north of the Terek have almost no rivers, which is due to the peculiarities of the climate. The main river is the Terek, the second largest is the Sunzha River.

In addition to rivers in Chechnya, there are lakes that are found both on the plains and in the mountains.

There are few lakes, but they are diverse in origin and water regime - eolian, floodplain, landslide, dam, karst, tectonic and glacial lakes stand out. Eolian lakes often dry up in summer.

The natural reservoirs of Chechnya are high mountain snows and glaciers. Large glaciers are associated with the northern slope of the Side Range. Morphological types of glaciers in Chechnya are valley, cirque, hanging.

There are 10 valley glaciers, 23 cirque and 25 hanging glaciers within the Republic.

Chechen forests occupy an area of ​​361 thousand hectares or 18.7% of the territory of the Republic. In the forest fund there are relict beech forests, which are suppliers of valuable timber. In addition to them, Caucasian hornbeam, low-stemmed birch, ash, and light maple are forest-forming species. There are all the necessary natural conditions for the development of recreational resources.

Environmental problems of the Republic

Environmental problems are also characteristic of this Caucasian Republic.

Among them, the most serious include:

• pollution of air, water, soil at the local level of the zone of untouched landscapes;
• destruction of flora and fauna in areas affected by industry;
• intensive use of resources, leading to the depletion of renewable and non-renewable natural resources.

As for regional environmental problems, they are determined by the level of anthropogenic pressure and natural features of the region.

Natural and climatic conditions, the history of the formation of the territory determine the ecological situation of the capital - the city of Grozny, especially its industrial zone, which is located in a closed space in terms of geomorphology.

In such a space, emissions from industrial enterprises into the atmosphere stagnate for a long time, and natural air renewal is small.

The main air pollutants are Nurenergo JSC, oil refining, oil production and construction industries.

Pollutants are hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides.

Causes of air pollution:

• the enterprises unsatisfactorily implement decisions on environmental protection;
• large irretrievable losses;
• weak control over the state of the environment by departmental organizations;
• poor control over the operation of treatment facilities;
• low efficiency of installed gas cleaners.

Being a part of nature, society should strive for mutually beneficial cooperation with nature.

The Chechen Republic is a tiny region in the southwestern part of Russia. In terms of its area, Chechnya occupies less than 0.1% of the country's territory. What is interesting about this region? What does it produce? How many cities are there within Chechnya? Our article will tell about all this.

Chechnya: area and geographical location

The republic is part of the North Caucasian Federal District. It is located within the Caucasian mountainous country. The total area of ​​Chechnya is 15.6 thousand square kilometers (76th place in the list of subjects of the Russian Federation). About 30% of its territory is occupied by mountain ranges and intermountain basins.

The capital of Chechnya is the city of Grozny. It is located in the geometric center of the republic. The head is Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov (since 2007).

The climate of Chechnya is continental and very diverse. Differences in the amount of atmospheric precipitation are especially striking: in the north of the republic they fall no more than 300 mm, and in the south - about 1000 mm. There are quite a lot of lakes and rivers in Chechnya (the largest of them are Terek, Argun, Sunzha and Gekhi).

Despite its small area, Chechnya is distinguished by an extraordinary variety of topography and landscapes. In physical and geographical terms, the republic can be divided into four zones: flat (in the north), foothills (in the center), mountainous and high-mountainous (in the south).

The main resource of Chechnya

The main natural resource of the republic is oil. Together with neighboring Ingushetia, Chechnya is one of the oldest oil and gas regions in Russia. Most of the oil fields are historically concentrated in the vicinity of Grozny.

To date, industrial oil reserves in Chechnya amount to about 60 million tons. And for the most part, they are already exhausted. The total reserves of black gold within the republic are estimated by experts at 370 million tons. True, it is quite difficult to develop them due to the high depth of the horizons. Today, oil production in Chechnya is carried out only at 200 wells out of 1300.

In addition to oil, natural gas, gypsum, marl, limestone and sandstone are produced in the republic. There are also several valuable mineral springs here.

General features of the regional economy

Perhaps the main and most famous feature of the Chechen economy is its subsidization. On average, the republic receives up to 60 billion rubles in annual material assistance from the center. And according to this indicator, Chechnya is one of the three most subsidized regions of Russia.

Another anti-record: the Chechen Republic ranks fourth in the country in terms of unemployment (almost 17%). The most difficult situation is observed in villages, where there are only 2 to 10 workers per 100 inhabitants. Paradoxically, but the total income of the population of Chechnya is growing every year. The reasons for this growth are various social benefits, benefits, “shadow earnings”, as well as money from labor migrants earned in Moscow and other countries.

In terms of gross domestic product, the Chechen economy ranks only 85th among the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. As before, the structure of the economy of the republic is dominated by the oil and gas sector. In addition, the construction industry, chemical and food industries are developed here. Construction of a thermal power plant continues in Grozny.

The lion's share of agricultural products is provided by animal husbandry (in particular, sheep and poultry farming). Cereals, sugar beets, potatoes and vegetables are grown on the lands of Chechnya.

Population and cities of Chechnya

Demographically, Chechnya is a young and actively giving birth republic, and religiously, it is a deeply religious one. It boasts the highest natural population growth in the country. Today, 1.4 million people live in Chechnya. 65% of them are rural residents. Chechnya also has the lowest divorce rates in Russia.

The most numerous ethnic group of the republic is Chechens (95%), the dominant religion is Sunni Islam. By the way, according to research in 2012, Chechnya is among the twenty regions of the planet where the rights of Christians are most infringed (according to the Open Doors organization). There are two state languages ​​in the republic - Chechen and Russian.

There are few cities in Chechnya. There are only five of them: Grozny, Urus-Martan, Gudermes, Shali and Argun. The largest city in Chechnya is Grozny. Almost 300 thousand people live here. The oldest is Shali. This city was founded in the XIV century.

The city of Grozny is the capital of the republic

Grozny is the capital of Chechnya and the center of the administrative region of the same name. The city is located on the banks. Its chronology dates back to 1818, when a fortress was founded here. Russian soldiers erected it in just four months. Since at that time this area was a "hot spot" on the map of the North Caucasus, the fortress was nicknamed Grozny.

Modern Grozny is a fairly well-groomed city with dozens of industrial enterprises and a solid number of new buildings. The main sights of Grozny are the grandiose mosque "Heart of Chechnya" and the no less impressive skyscraper complex "Grozny City". The latter is located in the very center of the city and includes five residential buildings, an office building and a five-star hotel.

The Chechen Republic is located in the central part of the northern slope of the Greater Caucasus (height up to 4493 m, Tebulosmta), adjacent to the Chechen plain and the Terek-Kuma lowland.

The length of the territory from north to south is 170 km, from west to east - 110 km.
It borders: in the south - with the Republic of Georgia, in the southeast, east and northeast - with the Republic of Dagestan, in the northwest - with the Stavropol Territory, in the west - with the Ingush Republic.

According to the relief, the territory of the republic is divided into flat northern (2/3 of the area) and mountainous southern (1/3 of the area). The south of the Chechen Republic is made up of the foothills and slopes of the Greater Caucasus Range, the northern part is occupied by the plain and the Terek-Kuma lowland. The hydrographic network of the republic belongs to the basin of the Caspian Sea. The main river of the republic, crossing it from west to east, is the Terek River. The rivers on the territory of the Chechen Republic are unevenly distributed. The mountainous part and the adjacent Chechen plain have a dense, highly branched river network. But there are no rivers on the Terek-Sunzhsnskaya Upland and in the areas located north of the Terek. This is due to the features of the relief, climatic conditions and, above all, the distribution of precipitation. According to the water regime, the rivers of the Chechen Republic can be divided into two types. The first includes rivers, in which glaciers and high mountain snows play an important role. These are Terek, Sunzha (below the confluence of Lesa), Assa and Argun. In the summer, when high in the mountains, snow and glaciers melt energetically, they overflow. The second type includes rivers originating from springs and devoid of glacial and high-mountain snow supply. This group includes Sunzha (before the confluence of Assy), Valerik, Gekhi, Martan, Goita, Dzhalka, Belka, Aksai, Yaryk-Su and others, less significant. They don't have floods in summer.

Minerals of the Chechen Republic include fuel and energy resources, such as: oil, gas, condensate, common minerals are represented by: deposits of brick raw materials, clays, building sands, sand and gravel mixtures, building stones, reserves of cement marls, limestones, dolomites, gypsum . The republic is also rich in hydropower resources, primarily the river. Argun, b. Assa and others (explored resources are 2000 MW) and heat and power resources located on the plains.

The main role in the development of the Republic in the near future will belong to the fuel and energy complex. The main wealth of the subsoil of the Chechen Republic is oil and gas, the explored reserves of which are respectively estimated as of 2005 at 40 million tons and gas at 14.5 billion cubic meters.

Oil

The beginning of industrial oil production of the republic was laid back in 1893, when the first fountain of oil gushed in the Starogroznensky district. Over the century-long history of the industry, 420 million tons of oil have been extracted from the bowels.
For the first 60 years, prospecting and exploration work here was carried out exclusively on oil and gas deposits in the Miocene deposits. Before the start of World War II, about 4 million tons of oil per year were produced in the republic. During the war years, the oil industry in Grozny was almost completely destroyed. A new stage in the development of the industry began in the late 1950s, when highly productive deposits were discovered and put into development in deep deposits of the Upper Cretaceous age. During the 1960s, oil production progressively increased until 1971, when it reached a peak level of 21.3 million tons and accounted for more than 7% of the total Russian production. In the 1970s, as the productivity of these facilities naturally declined, the annual production level decreased three times. In the 1980s - early 1990s, due to the discovery of new, but less productive deposits, production stabilized at the level of 5-4 million tons. In the 1990s, oil production plummeted.
According to the published data of the Ministry of Oil and Chemical Industry of the Chechen Republic, as of January 1, 1993, there were 23 fields in development, containing 44 oil and one oil and gas condensate deposits. Most of the deposits were already at the stage of natural depletion and increasing water cut. The degree of depletion of deposits was almost 80% - the highest in Russia. The most significant deposits are Starogroznenskoye, Bragunskoye, Oktyabrskoye, Eldarovskoye, Pravoberezhnoye and Goryacheistochnenskoye, which produced about 70% of the total production of the republic. The degree of depletion of the first four of them is almost 95%, and the other two, from which 30% of production came, exceeds 60%.
The total well stock on the above date was 1456 units, and only 9 of them are new. In 1993-94, about 880 wells were producing, including 7 new ones, and at the beginning of December 1994, only about 100 wells were operating. The average productivity of the well did not exceed 4 thousand tons per year.
The degree of exploration of the initial resources of the republic is almost 80%. It is believed that large structures are practically identified, however, the prospects for discovering deposits with smaller reserves at deeper horizons are quite high. Potential oil resources of the Chechen Republic are estimated at about 100 million tons.
In addition to the discovery of new deposits, additional development of depleted deposits, re-commissioning of flooded deposits, the residual reserves of which are estimated at 150 million tons, may be a reserve for increasing production.
Since the late 1950s, the gas industry has been intensively developing in the republic. Five free gas fields produced less than 0.1 billion cubic meters annually. Of much greater importance in the economy of the republic is associated petroleum gas, the production of which in 1992 amounted to 1.3 billion and in 1993 - 1.0 billion.
According to the composition of the oil of the Chechen Republic, it is predominantly paraffinic with a high content of gasoline. Most of the fields are located within the Tersky Ridge system, however, oil producing wells are also located on the Sunzhensky Ridge and on the Black Mountains monocline. There is also an oil field in the Fortanga river valley.

Other minerals of Chechnya

In addition to oil and gas, the Chechen Republic has large reserves of raw materials for the development of the construction industry. Huge reserves of cement marl, limestone, dolomite, and gypsum are concentrated in the mountainous regions. The most significant reserves of cement marls have been explored in the Chanty-Argun valley. On their basis, as well as using the nearby deposits of Upper Maikop clays, the Chir-Yurt cement plant, restored after the war, operates. Limestone deposits are practically inexhaustible, and there are limestones of beautiful colors. They are well polished and can be used as a facing material.
Gypsum and anhydrite deposits are located between the Gekhi and Sharo-Argun rivers. The largest deposit is located north of the village of Ushkaloy. The gypsum-anhydrite suite here reaches 195 meters. Some varieties of gypsum and anhydrite can be used as an ornamental stone for making souvenirs and art products.
Several sandstone deposits have also been explored in Chechnya, the largest of which are Sernovodskoye, Samashkinskoye, Chishkinskoye. They are used to obtain wall and rubble stone. There are also quartz sands suitable for glass production. Near the village of Small Varanda there is a deposit of mineral paints - ocher, mummy. In the mountains, there are also deposits of table and potash salts. The explored deposits of hard and brown coal have not yet been developed due to their low quality and small reserves.
The ore potential of the Chechen Republic has not yet been sufficiently studied. Several deposits of copper and polymetals are noted in the mountainous part. In the upper reaches of the Sharo-Argun, an antimony-tungsten deposit was discovered containing tin, tantalum and niobium. The sulfur deposit near the village of the Zone is also of interest. On the Chechen plain there are numerous deposits of brick-tile and pottery clay, gravel. Large deposits of building and glass sands, limestone-shell rock, sandstones, brick-tile and bleaching clays are known on the Terek-Sunzhenskaya Upland.
The use of hard coal reserves is currently not profitable for reasons common to the coal mining industry in Russia, as well as due to the depletion of coal seams and the complexity of developing deposits in the KChR. Coal mining in 1996-1997 was only 35 thousand tons per year.
Of great industrial importance is the extraction of copper pyrite ores with a high content of copper and associated zinc. Main deposit? Urupskoye (6 more have been explored, including the large copper Bykovskoye in the Labinsk Gorge). Urupsky Mining and Processing Plant (GOK) is the main copper mining enterprise in the industry, the second largest is Zelenchuksky GOK.
Deposits of gold (near Rozhkao) and silver have been discovered on the territory of the KChR. There are significant reserves of polymetallic ores (the Khudesskoye deposit is the eastern region of the copper-bearing zone), some of which contain copper, zinc, cobalt, etc.
The Republic needs investments for the development of promising fields:
- tungsten ores (Kti-Teberdinsky - a feasibility study for the construction of the Aksautsky tungsten mining and processing plant has been prepared);
- hematite ores (the Biychesyn-Bermamytskoye deposit, with an annual production of 120-150 thousand tons, they can be used to supply iron-containing additives for Kavkazcement JSC and other regions of Russia);
- copper pyrite and sulfur pyrite ores (Khudessky);
- Porcelain stone (at the present time, porcelain and ceramic factories in Russia are experiencing a shortage of raw materials, which is estimated at 350-400 thousand tons in the average annual measurement);
- gold-bearing ores, which, with the necessary additional exploration and development, will provide more than 100 tons of gold.