12 May 2003, 15:14
Rustavi
City in Georgia, on the river Kurah, in 40 kms to a southeast from Tbilisi. Population - about 160 000 inhabitants. A railway station.
Modern Rustavi had grown in connection with a metal works construction (since 1941) and became a city in 1948. On a place of modern city by B.C. there was a city of Bostan - Kalaki; in IV-V centuries of new era an irritation canal coming from the Kurah river (still functioning), a fortress and a temple were constructed in territory of the city. The temple became a pulpit of bishop Rustaveli in the 2nd part of V century AD. In XII-XIII centuries AD the city became an important political and economic centre of Georgia. After that the city had undergone to devastating attacks of Mongols -Tatars and, in fact, stopped its existence.
In modern Rustavi such branches of economy as metallurgy, mechanical engineering, the chemical industry, manufacture of building materials are advanced. There are enterprises of light and the food-processing industry. As well as in other cities of the former USSR, many of the enterprises of Rustavi at one time closely depended on deliveries of raw material and accessories from other regions, and after disintegration of all-union economic system experienced a serious crisis which led to serious social problems among the population of the city, such as a high level of unemployment, an impoverishment of inhabitants, growth of criminality.
Rustavi has got some popularity in other countries due to the Rustavi Chorus, an excellent performer of Georgian national songs. Today Rustavi is a place of a disposition of the television company " Rustavi-2 ", noted for its intense relations with the government of Georgia and the scandals connected to it. Among the Georgian sport fans the city soccer team is rather known.
