MIELEC

'Mielec' ()is a town in south-eastern Poland with about 63,000 inhabitants. It is situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (Wojewodztwo Podkarpackie)(since 1999), previously in Rzeszów Voivodeship (1975-1998). Mielec is a capital town of Mielec County.

Contents

History

Economy

Sports

Education

People related to Mielec

Twin towns

External links

History

First mentioned in a papal bull in 1229. In 1457 it obtained its
city charter. Mielec became part of the Austrian empire in 1772,
in which it remained until Poland regained its independence in 1918. The town had a significant Jewish community, which perished in the Holocaust carried out by the occupying Nazi German forces in the course of World War II.
The town's economy has been centered for the last 70 years around a single industrial enterprise, which transformed the town and increased its population sixfold. This process began in the 1930s, when Poland launched a significant expansion of its armaments industry, focused on building plants in the newly created Central Industrial Region. As part of this effort, in the years 1937-1939 a large aviation factory of the PZL company was set up in the town. It developed further after 1945 into the
largest aviation factory in Poland under the name WSK-Mielec
(''Wytwórnia Sprzętu Komunikacyjnego'', in
English ''Transport Equipment Manufacturing Centre'') .
At first, the factory produced Soviet-designed planes under license. Thus it was the primary production site of the widely used An-2 transport plane.
It also manufactured Polish versions of the MiG-15 and MiG-17
fighters. The factory also built planes designed in Poland such as the trainer plane TS-11 Iskra used by Poland and India. In 1998 the company changed its name to PZL-Mielec (''Polskie Zakłady Lotnicze'', in
English Polish Aviation Works). After 1989 and the economic changes
due to the fall of communism, the factory orders declined and it has
encountered serious financial difficulties. It continued to produce
successful aircraft types, but at much lower volumes than during the
Cold War. In 2007 the factory has been acquired by Sikorsky and will be the main production site of the export version UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter [1].

Economy

From the beginning of Centralny Okręg Przemysłowy Mielec is commonly associated with PZL Mielec aviation factory.
The first Special Economic Zone in Poland, SEZ EURO-PARK MIELEC, has been founded in Mielec in 1995 and has a great impact on economy of Mielec.

Sports

★ 'FKS Stal Mielec' - men's soccer team currently in 4th league:

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★ Participating in Poland's Ekstraklasa Premier League: 1st place in 1972/73 season; 1st place in 1975/76 season; 2nd place in 1974/75 season; 3rd place in 1973/74 season; 3rd place in 1983/84 season.

★
★ Participating in Polish Cup: finalist in 1976 season

★
★ Participating in UEFA Cup: quarter-finalist in 1975/76 season

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★ Participating in European Champions Cup: first round elimination in 1973/74 season; first round elimination in 1976/77 season

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★ ''Notable players'': Grzegorz Lato, Henryk Kasperczak, Andrzej Szarmach, Jan Domarski

★ 'KPSK Stal Mielec' - women's volleyball team playing in Liga Siatkówki Kobiet: 2nd place in 1999/2000 season.

★ 'SPR BRW Stal Mielec' - men's handball team playing in 'Ekstraklasa'

Education

★ Wyższa Szkoła Gospodarki i Zarządzania

People related to Mielec

★ Marek Bałata - jazz musician

★ Mieczysław Działowski and Stanisław Działowski - aircraft constructors and pilots

★ Piotr Gąsowski - actor

★ Grzegorz Lato - soccer player, senator

★ Jerzy Mamcarz - poet, singer, composer

★ Zbigniew Mączka - parliamentarian (Sejm RP 1993-1997), Polish Civil Aviation Authority vice-president

★ Władysław Ortyl

★ Władysław Szafer - biologist

★ Hieronim Wrona - music reporter

Twin towns

Douchy-les-Mines
Löhne
Mukacheve
Tiszaföldvár
Vila Nova de Poiares

External links

★ Mielec home page (in Polish)

★ PZL aviation factory in Mielec

★ History of Mielec