Mažeikiai
Encyclopedia
Mažeikiai is a city in the north-western Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

, on the Venta River
Venta River
Venta River is a river in north-western Lithuania and western Latvia. Its source is near Kuršėnai in the Lithuanian Šiauliai County. It flows into the Baltic Sea at Ventspils in Latvia....

. It has a population of around 45,300, making it the eighth largest city in Lithuania. The city is the administrative center of Mažeikiai district municipality
Mažeikiai district municipality
Mažeikiai district municipality is in north-west Lithuania, on the Venta River . The administrative center of Mažeikiai district is the town of Mažeikiai...

 in Telšiai County
Telšiai County
Telšiai County is one of ten counties in Lithuania. It is in the west of the country, and its capital is Telšiai...

. It is the largest city that does not have its county
Counties of Lithuania
The territory of Lithuania is divided into 10 counties , all named after their capitals. The counties are divided into 60 municipalities : 9 city municipalities, 43 district municipalities and 8 municipalities...

.

History

Mažeikiai is first mentioned in written sources in 1335. A chronicler of the Livonian Order
Livonian Order
The Livonian Order was an autonomous Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order and a member of the Livonian Confederation from 1435–1561. After being defeated by Samogitians in the 1236 Battle of Schaulen , the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword were incorporated into the Teutonic Knights...

 wrote about a campaign of the Order, during which the land of Duke Mažeika was devastated. The town started growing rapidly in 1869 when a railway line connecting Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...

 and Liepāja
Liepaja
Liepāja ; ), is a republican city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea directly at 21°E. It is the largest city in the Kurzeme Region of Latvia, the third largest city in Latvia after Riga and Daugavpils and an important ice-free port...

 was constructed. In 1893, the town had 13 shops and 5 alehouses. In 1894 an Orthodox church was built, in 1902 a Catholic church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

, and in 1906 an Evangelical-Lutheran
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...

 church. From 1899 to 1918 the town was called Muravyov.

Economy

In 1980 an oil refinery
Oil refinery
An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas...

 plant "Mažeikių Nafta
Mažeikiu Nafta
ORLEN Lietuva is a company centered around the Mažeikiai oil refinery and oil-processing plant in Lithuania. It includes the only refinery in the Baltic States.- Refinery :...

" was opened. Today it is one of the largest industrial plants in Lithuania. Its privatisation to Williams
Williams Companies
The Williams Companies, Inc. is an energy company based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Its core business is natural gas exploration, production, processing, and transportation, with additional petroleum and electricity generation assets...

, an American energy company, caused many scandals and major disturbances in the Lithuanian government. Williams International facing financial problems sold Mažeikių Nafta to Yukos
YUKOS
OJSC "Yukos Oil Company" was a petroleum company in Russia which, until 2003, was controlled by Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky and a number of other prominent Russian businessmen. After Yukos was bankrupted, Khodorkovsky was convicted and sent to prison.Yukos headquarters was located in...

. After Yukos' bankruptcy, the Lithuanian government and Polish company PKN Orlen
PKN Orlen
PKN Orlen is a major European oil refiner, and petrol retailer. The company is Poland's and Central Europe's largest publicly traded firm with major operations in Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, and the Baltic States...

 signed a sale agreement of Mažeikių Nafta in 2006. Also Yukos International UK B.V. signed a sale agreement with PKN Orlen, selling its Mažeikių Nafta
Mažeikiu Nafta
ORLEN Lietuva is a company centered around the Mažeikiai oil refinery and oil-processing plant in Lithuania. It includes the only refinery in the Baltic States.- Refinery :...

 shares to the Polish company. The buyout was finalized on 15 December 2006, with USD 1,492,000,000 being paid by PKN Orlen to Yukos International, and USD 851,828,900.31 to the Lithuanian Government.

Sister cities

Płock, Poland Navapolatsk
Navapolatsk
Navapolatsk is a city in Vitsebsk Province, Belarus, with a population of 107,458. Founded in 1958, it is located close to the city of Polatsk and the name literally means "New Polatsk".- History :...

, Belarus Saldus
Saldus
Saldus is a Latvian town located in Courland and is main town in Saldus District. As of 2005, the town has a population of 12,707.The year 1856 is considered as foundation of Saldus town when the board of Domens' decided to establish a trade center...

, Latvia Paide
Paide
Paide is the capital of Järva County, Estonia.A castle built by the Livonian Brothers of the Sword is located here. The town was formally founded 30 September 1291 by Halt, master of the Livonian Order....

, Estonia Havirov
Havírov
Havířov is a city in the Karviná District, Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has 82,768 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the region. It is the largest town in the country without a university...

, Czech Republic Maribo
Maribo
Maribo is a town in Lolland municipality in Region Sjælland on the island of Lolland in south Denmark. To the north of Maribo is Nørresø and to the south is Søndersø . Søndersø is the largest lake on Lolland...

, Denmark

External links

  • http://www.mazeikiai.lt/
  • http://www.mazeikiu.info Information about Mazeikiai city
  • http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/mazeikiai/introduction.html Memorial website to the Jewish Shtetl Mazheik (Mažeikiai)
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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