Perm Krai

Perm exists because salt made the Urals profitable. In 1430, merchants—probably from Vologda—discovered massive salt deposits along the Usolka River and established Sol-Kamskaya (now Solikamsk). The name itself encodes the discovery: sol means 'salt,' Kama names the great river. For three centuries, salt extraction defined the region's purpose. The Stroganov family, granted vast lands by Ivan the Terrible's 1558 charter, became virtual lords of Perm by dominating salt production. Their wealth funded Russia's 1580 conquest of Siberia—the Urals' gateway function extracted mineral wealth and projected imperial power simultaneously.

The Stroganov salt empire built infrastructure that outlasted its commodity. The Babinov Road, starting in Solikamsk, became the only overland route from European Russia to Siberia in the 17th century. The word 'Perm' first appeared in chronicles dated 1113, naming a Finno-Ugric people in northeastern Europe. Russian colonization around 1500 displaced the indigenous Komi northward, who in turn displaced the Mansi—a cascade of ethnic displacement following salt's economic pull.

The 20th century revealed deeper mineral wealth. The Verkhnekamskoye deposit contains 96.4 billion tons of carnallite rock, 113.2 billion tons of sylvinites, and 4.65 trillion tons of rock salt—the world's second-largest potash reserves. In 1934, Solikamsk became the first Soviet potash producer. The 2011 merger of Uralkali and Silvinit created a monopoly controlling 20% of global potash production. Today, Uralkali operates five mines and seven ore-treatment mills in Berezniki and Solikamsk.

Extractive success created extractive vulnerability. In October 2006, a freshwater spring began flowing into one of Uralkali's mines under Berezniki, dissolving walls and pillars. Owner Dmitry Rybolovlev closed the mine to prevent fatalities. Large sinkholes opened across the city, forcing 12,000 residents to evacuate—the earth literally collapsing into the voids left by extraction.

The 2024-2025 period shows recovery and coordination. Uralkali produced 12.9 million tonnes in 2024, up from 9.8 million in 2023. Revenue reached 419.4 billion rubles (+14% year-on-year), with exports comprising 78% of sales to China, India, Brazil, and Southeast Asia. In early 2025, Uralkali announced maintenance shutdowns at Berezniki-2, Berezniki-4, and Solikamsk-3, coordinating with Belarus's Belaruskali to reduce production by one million tonnes in the first half of 2025. Perm Krai's 13,524 Uralkali employees manage what salt merchants discovered six centuries ago: that the Urals' value lies beneath the surface, and extraction shapes everything above it.