Bashkortostan: economy, politics, and culture

May 23, 2013

A monument to Bashkir national hero Salavat Yulayev stands above Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia.

Rustem Zakievich Khamitov is the second and last president of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia. He is photographed here in a conference room outside of his office in Ufa, Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia. Khamitov was appointed to the position in 2010 by Russian president Vladimir Putin. A 2010 federal law prevents leaders of Russia’s republics and regions from using the term ‘president’ after 2015, though the government of Bashkortostan has not yet decided how to implement this law and what term will be used in the future.

A man worships in the Lyalya-Tulip Mosque in Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia. The mosque is the center of Islam in Bashkortostan.

A man worships in the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia.

Trees stand next to the White River in Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia.

Bashneft employee Ruslan Yusupov speaks on a cell phone at a Bashneft refinery outside of Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia. The area is a major oil and gas producing region in the country.

Patients wait for treatment and diagnosis in the Russian Eye and Plastic Surgery Center in Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia. The hospital is run by Ernst Muldashev, a writer and surgeon who claims to have invented a medicine and technique using "alloplant" to cure a variety of illnesses, syndromes, and diseases including blindness. Alloplant is derived from human cadavers. Muldashev is a widely-read author of books about the origin of man. The books, widely read in Russia as science ficition and read outside of Russia primarily by new age and conspiracy theorists, claim that man is descended from aliens or giants. Muldashev claims to have found evidence of this on exploration trips in the Himalayas. Muldashev's medical work is widely regarded as fraudulent by outside doctors. His cure for blindness has been shown to be a fake.

Patients wait for treatment and diagnosis in the Alloplant Russian Eye and Plastic Surgery Center in Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia.

A man drives through the grounds of a Bashneft oil refinery in Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia. The area is a major oil and gas producing region in the country.

Crew members prepare for a nightly news discussion show at the Telecenter (Teletsentr) studio of Bashkir state television and radio in Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia.

People wait for buses and minibuses in Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia.

A woman enters offices in the executive office building of the president of Bashkortostan in Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia.

Women prune young cucumber plants in a greenhouse at the Alekseevskii state farm outside Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia. The farm employees about 1,500 people.

A stuffed bear stands in the corner of Ernst Muldashev's office in the Russian Eye and Plastic Surgery Center in Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia. The hospital is run by Ernst Muldashev, a writer and surgeon who claims to have invented a medicine and technique using "alloplant" to cure a variety of illnesses, syndromes, and diseases including blindness. Alloplant is derived from human cadavers. Muldashev is a widely-read author of books about the origin of man. The books, widely read in Russia as science ficition and read outside of Russia primarily by new age and conspiracy theorists, claim that man is descended from aliens or giants. Muldashev claims to have found evidence of this on exploration trips in the Himalayas. Muldashev's medical work is widely regarded as fraudulent by outside doctors. His cure for blindness has been shown to be a fake.

A stuffed bear stands in the corner of Ernst Muldashev’s office in the Alloplant Russian Eye and Plastic Surgery Center in Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia.

The city of Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia, is known as the City of 52 Kilometers because of its size. The city, capital of Bashkortostan and the center for the oil and gas industry in the region, has grown rapidly since the fall of the Soviet Union.

People ride a minibus bound for the Central Market in Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia.

A portrait of Vitali Proshkin, team captain of hockey team Salavat Yulaev Ufa, stands in the lobby of the newly built hockey stadium in Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia.

A receptionist waits for visitors to a Bashneft oil refinery outside Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia.

An earthmover stands at rest near new residential building construction in Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia.

Refinery towers stand above trees outside Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia. The area is a major oil and gas producing region in the country.

Last year, I traveled to Russia on an exchange and worked in the offices of the TassPhoto agency in Moscow. During the trip, I went to Bashkortostan for a 3-day reporting trip that was mostly an official tour of the capital city Ufa and some of its recent economic developments: a new stadium, it's state-run broadcasting system, a Bashneft oil refinery, and a very strange hospital. We also had a short interview with the president of the republic, the last president of Bashkortostan, Rustem Zakievich Khamitov. You can see more images at my photoshelter archive.