Situated in the south - eastern Romania, having a population of over 250,000 inhabitants, Ploiesti is one of Romania's most important cities, on the second place after Bucharest as for the industrial production.
At a 60 km distance from Bucharest, crossed by the 26° meridian and the 44° 55' parallel, Ploiesti is the petroleum industrial citadel.
Ploiesti is also known for the production and exportation of the petrochemical, chemical and petroleum equipment, heavy - duty bearings, cables, detergents, cloths, furniture, as well for the civil and industrial engineering made abroad.
The economic potential of the city is remarkable, due to the tradition and professionalism of the designing companies (PETROSTAR, RAYTHEON ENGINEERS & CONSTRUCTORS, IPIP, COMPROIECT 92, MAAD INTERNATIONAL, in the domain of the chemical and petrochemical equipment, IPCUP S.A. in the domain of drilling and exploitation equipment, ICERP in the domain of petrochemical products, CONSPROIECT in the civil and industrial engineering) due to the activity of some important companies, beginning with the four refineries (PETROTEL - LUK OIL S.A, ASTRA ROMANA, VEGA and S.N.P. PETROM PETROBRAZI), and continuing by the distribution firms for petroleum products (S.N.P. PETROM PECO PRAHOVA, SHELL, MOL ROMANIA), by those in the chemical and petroleum equipment branch (UPETROM 1 MAI, UZUC, UZTEL, 24 IANUARIE, FLINTAB ROMANIA), by the heavy - duty bearings plant that has just been bought by the American company TIMKEN (TIMKEN ROMANIA), by the steel cables plant CABLUL ROMANESC, by the pipeline oil transport CONPET, by the polyethylene products plant POLITEH, by the detergents plant DERO LEVER, by the cloths factory DOROBANTUL, by the ready - made clothes factory MODEXIM, by the furniture plant ANTECO, by the food and drink plants SOCIETATEA DE IMBUTELIAT COCA - COLA, PROLA, EFES PILSNER, EXTRAPAN, DI APOLLO INDUSTRIA CARNII, the tobacco industry - BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO, in the printing industry - MAYR MELNHOF PACKAGING ROMANIA, in constructions (CIPROM, INSPET, UMO, CONTRASIMEX, ASCM., CONSTIL).
The private initiative led to the creation of some important firms in the construction sector (ROOL CONSTRUCT, NOVA - CONS), in the computer manufacturing (SPRINT COMPUTERS, PLATIN SYSTEMS)
The municipality
As any settlement, Ploiesti has always had a leader of its own. First, there were a magistrate and town councillors, afterwards a chairman and an executive committee and finally a mayor and a town council. All of them did their best to solve the town's problems concerning the aspect, the constructions and the public utilities, the salubrity and to contribute to the local economical development, social protection, culture, education and local patrimony.
At first, the municipality did not have premises of its own, renting various buildings. Later on they afforded to get two buildings constructed. The first one ("THE OLD TOWN HALL"), which used to be situated on the present - day "Prahova" Hotel, housed the Town Hall between 1868 - 1894. It was demolished after 1940.
Between 1894 - 1972 the Town Hall was to be found in the "New Town Hall". The edifice, designed to become a museum of the city after 1972, had to be demolished after the 1977 earthquake. Since 1972, the Town Hall has carried out its activity in the building of the Administrative Palace. Besides this building, the public services carry out their activity in other premises as a result of the development and diversification of the activity: inside the Central Market - which has been administrated by the municipality since 1997 - the Patrimony Board and the Fiscal Board carry out activity; the former house of the mayor Radu Stanian which has became the Weddings House, houses the Registry Office.
A New Borough at the Feet of The Mountains
Another legend speaks about Michael the Brave (1593 - 1601) who, willing to settle a new borough, asked the chief magistrate of the village of Ploiesti to sell him that land. The chief magistrate refused the money offered by the Prince for that land because he said that villagers who lived there were freeholders and if they had sold their land they would have became serfs.
The legend is only partly true. In fact, the Prince bought the land from two country squires and gave it to the inhabitants of Ploiesti to keep into possession. Michael the Brave also got that land colonized by brave soldiers. He set up there a weekly fair, which used to attract people and goods from far away. Thus, the small borough developed in a short time, being ruled by a magistrate and 12 town councillors, elected by the townsmen.
Ploiesti was also a headquarters for Michael the Brave's army, as he prepared his glorious military campaign to Transylvania, first step to a unification of the Romanian provinces. His military campaign started at Ploiesti on October 4, 1599 and ended in triumph at Alba - Iulia on November 1.
For all those reasons we can say that Michael the Brave was not only the founder of the city, but also a huge personality who decided upon the city's future. In their turn, the inhabitants of Ploiesti have remained eternally grateful to him.
The Statue of Liberty
Is the oldest monument of the city, a homage paid by its inhabitants to democracy thy fought for. The news about the Radical - Liberals' victory in the local election in Ploiesti in March 1869 against the Government's interferences concerning the constitutional rights was quickly spread in the whole country. It was followed and amplified by the news of the antidynastic movement in the same city in August 1870. In that respect, Dimitrie Bratianu, together with C. A. Rossetti - two Romanian political personalities of the time -, proposed that the city of Ploiesti should be rewarded with a monument, opening a subscription list for possible supporters through the newspaper " The Romanian ".
The initiators of the project sought abroad and eventually found in France a well - suited statue, both by theme (the Goddess Minerva wearing the Phrygian cap of liberty), size (3.5 m), artistical value and technical execution (it was cast at L. Oudry & C - i.e. in Paris). The statue was bought and brought in the country in 1876, but it was not immediately put in place because of the war. The architect Toma N. Socolescu, who had also designed the plinth, got the statue assembled in Liberty Square on September 1st, 1879.
The inauguration took place only on June 21st, 1881. Later on, the statue was to be reassembled in front of the Town Hall, and when the air raids during the World War I came to an end; the statue was moved again, being placed on the actual site, in front of the Administrative Palace (the new premises of the Town Hall). A century later, the statue has continued to be a symbol of liberty and democracy for the inhabitants of Ploiesti. Thus, during the painful days of theRevolution of 1989, people gathered round the statue and every year after has commemorated their heroes there.
