Donetsk

Donetsk was founded in 1869 by Welsh businessman John Hughes, who established coal industry in the region. He set up a steel mill and several coal mines. The workers’ village was named Uzivka after him, based on the local pronunciation of Hughes.



During the communist regime, Uzivka became Stalino in 1921, and after the fall of the Stalin regime, the city was renamed Donetsk, after the Siverskyi Donets river, a tributary of the Don.



Donetsk today is a huge industrial and financial centre in eastern Ukraine, where almost all industries are represented, including, predominantly, metallurgy, coal, chemicals and engineering. In 1970 the city was recognised by UNESCO as the greenest industrial city in the world, and it still adequately deserves the title, Donetsk being very pleasant, well-kept and green.



The city is often called the mining capital, but Donetsk is not only coal; it is also a city of football, the home of Shakhtar Donetsk. It also has one of the best stadiums in Europe, the Donbass Arena.