Ukhta

Ukhta (Russian: Ухта) (also spelled Uchta) is an important industrial town in the Komi Republic of northwestern Russia.

Lying on the Ukhta River , the settlement was founded as the village of Chibyu in 1929. In 1939 it was renamed Ukhta. It received the town status in 1943 when it was linked to the Pechora Railway .

Ukhta lies within the Pechora River basin, an important oil and gas-producing region. Some of the Ukhta's oil is refined locally; most, however, is piped to oil refineries between St. Petersburg and Moscow. The city expanded in 40's and 50's by use of forced labour made of Stalinist regime political prisoners.

As of 2001, the population of the town was 96,000.