Seredyna-Buda [Середина-Буда]. Map: I-15. A city (2005 pop 7,500) on the Bobryk River and a raion center in Sumy oblast. It was founded in the 1660s by Old Believers from Muscovy. For over a hundred years the village belonged to Starodub regiment. With the abolition of the Hetman state it became part of Novhorod-Siverskyi vicegerency (1782–96), Little Russia gubernia (1796–1802), and Chernihiv gubernia (1802–1925). By the end of the 19th century soap, hemp-oil, leather, and flour milling enterprises had been established in the town. A railway link encouraged the development of lumbering at the turn of the 20th century. In 1964 the town attained city status. Today about a third of its work force is employed in industries, such as machine building, metalworking industry, food processing, forest products, and sewing.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]