Püssi ( ; ; ) is a town in Lüganuse Parish,

Ida-Viru County Ida-Viru County ( or ; ) is one of the 15 counties of Estonia. It is the most northeastern part of the country. The county contains large deposits of oil shale the main mineral mined in Estonia. Oil shale is used in the production of shale oil ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

, with a population of 917 . It is located near the road between

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

and St. Petersburg.

History

Following the end of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

's 47-year occupation of Estonia, Püssi saw a sharp economic downturn and a population exodus. In 1989, the population of Püssi stood at 2,400 people, and 20 years later, in 2009, was only 1,809. The population has continued to decrease and by 2012 stood at 1,783 people. In October 2013, Püssi along with Maidla Parish were merged into Lüganuse Parish, and therefore ceased to exist as separate municipalities.

Economy

By 2002 Püssi had accumulated 20 million kroons of debt, the equivalent to 1.3 million

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

s; and property values had become so low that apartments were valued around zero. Since then, the city's economy has begun to recover. Püssi has planned the construction of an

industrial park An industrial park, also known as industrial estate or trading estate, is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more heavyweight version of a business park or office par ...

. The Chairman of the town council, in an interview with '' The Baltic Times'', marketed Püssi by stating that property values in the city were only 1% of those of the capital city of

. Püssi has historically served as a production center for particle board. At the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the town's largest employer was particle board manufacturer Repo Vabrikud, which employed 1,400 people, over half the city. Although Repo Vabrikud has scaled back employment significantly, other particle board manufacturers have moved in. Sorbes Group has the production center for its "Repo by Sorbes" line of particle board in Püssi. In 2011, the Estonian furniture manufacturer Viisnurk took over an inactive softboard factory in the city with the intention to manufacture softboard for international clients in Asia and Europe. In December 2010,

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...

announced that Püssi had been selected as the location of one of two converter stations for their " EstLink 2" high voltage power line between

and

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

Culture

Püssi is the home of the Püssi Punk Festival, which has run annually since 2005, and features rock,

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

, and indie musicians from several countries. The town contains an artificial mountain made of ash from an

oil shale Oil shale is an organic-rich Granularity, fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen (a solid mixture of Organic compound, organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons can be produced. In addition to kerogen, general compos ...

power plant that has been depositing ash in the location since the 1930s. The mountain is used for

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competi ...

racing.

Notable people

* Herbert Brede (1888–1942), army general. Born in Püssi. * Piret Hartman (born 1981), politician. Born in Püssi. * Carl Timoleon von Neff (1804–1877), painter. Born in Püssi.

Gallery

Püssi jaamahoone enne II maailmasõda.jpg, The old Püssi railway station (destroyed in World War II) Püssi train station 2011.jpg, Püssi train station Elroni reisirong Püssil.jpg, Elron passenger train in Püssi Old factory chimney in Püssi - panoramio.jpg, Old factory's chimney (July 2011) Püssi AS Repo Vabrikud tehas.jpg, Püssi AS Repo factory next to the Purtse river Map Estonia - Püssi linn.png,

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pussi Cities and towns in Estonia Lüganuse Parish Former municipalities of Estonia Kreis Wierland