Nizhny Tagil, Russia - Since 1996
НижнийТагил
Overview
Nizhny Tagil is located in the Sverdlovsk region of Russia. While their population is larger than Chattanooga (at 357,000 in 2015), the two cities have many similarities. Nizhny Tagil is located in the valley of the Tagil River in the Ural Mountains. Their history as a mining and metallurgical center mirrors Chattanooga’s history as a manufacturing base.
History of Nizhny Tagil
In September, 2014, a delegation from Nizhny Tagil visited Chattanooga.
Anna Yarkova, left, takes photos of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's Challenger Center on Monday while she and other Russian delegates take a tour of UTC's campus.
Photo by Dan Henry /Times Free Press.
Relations between Capitol Hill and Moscow may be tense, but Chattanooga and Nizhny Tagil, Russia, are happily continuing a 15-year-old friendship.
Five delegates from the Russian sister city are visiting the Scenic City this week, specifically to learn how Chattanooga cleaned up its industrial act.
On Monday, the Russian delegation -- made up of a college professor, a government budget inspector, a steelworker, an obstetrician-gynecologist and a public relations professional -- spent the day engaged in discussion with students and faculty at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Dr. Irina Khmelko, UC Foundation assistant professor in the UTC Department of Political Science, Public Administration, and Nonprofit Management and Vice President of Chattanooga Sister Cities facilitated the visit and led a panel discussion between the delegates and UTC faculty members.
Earlier in the day, the group was welcomed by UTC Chancellor Steve Angle. Delegates spoke about their hometown to UTC students, who asked questions about the delegates’ lives in Russia.
Nizhnii Tagil has been a sister city of Chattanooga since June 1996. The industrial city is similar in size to Chattanooga. Dr. Khmelko explained that the Russian delegation was interested in the public-private partnerships in Chattanooga, and the way government, nonprofits, and private citizens have worked together to develop the riverfront and transform the city.
Pictured from left: UTC Chancellor Steve Angle, Irina Viktorovna Darenskaya, Associate Professor of Social Work, Management and Law, Nizhny Tagil State Socio-Pedagogical Academy; Gennadiy Yuryevich Fedorov, Inspector, State Budget Institution, Nature Park Chusovaia River; Anna Andreyevna Yarkova, Senior Internal communications manager, regional corporate communications center for EVRAZ, Nizhny Tagil integrated iron-and-steel works, a member of the EVRAZ group, a vertically integrated corporation with assets in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, USA, Canada, Czech Republic, Italy and South Africa; Dr. Irina Khmelko; Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Frolov, Steelworker, JOINT STOCK COMPANY Scientific and Production Corporation Uralvagonzavod foundry 552; and Svetlana Vladimirovna Naumova, Head of interregional perinatal center, Demidov Central City, obstetrician-gynecologist.