https://absoluttv.ru/14382-velikie-stroyki-svernuli-v-sssr-posle-smerti-stalina.html
07/07/2020 14:02
St. Petersburg / AbsolutTV.ru / The third position is the curtailment of the great construction projects. And, first of all, two projects that were not only of national economic importance, but also of great military importance. These are the Transpolar Highway and the tunnel to Sakhalin. On March 25, 1953, a special resolution was passed by the Council of Ministers of the USSR to freeze and preserve these construction projects.
The brief history of the issue is as follows. In the face of the growing threat posed by the United States, the top military and political leadership of our country made the decision to build a naval base at the mouth of the Yenisei River. The city of Igarka, located on the Yenisei River, was chosen as the base's location. The plan was to construct a railway to connect the central regions of the country with the Yenisei River. In fact, the railway would have extended from Igarka to Dudinka, and from Dudinka to Norilsk. Thus, in fact, the entire northern polar part of the country would be included in the economic use of our national economic complex.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, mineral deposits, primarily oil and gas, were discovered in these areas. However, when the decision to build this road was made in 1947, it was primarily motivated by its military significance for transporting personnel and supplies for the construction of military facilities.
Of course, our global competitors were very worried about the development of the North. The strengthening of the USSR's position on the Northern Sea Route, the emergence of a new naval base, and the construction of a road that practically reached the center of the country through the polar region.
Here we can make a small lyrical digression. Now the center of Russia is near Lake Vivi Plateau Putorana. This is the territory to the northeast of the city of Turukhansk, in the place where Stalin once spent years of exile. This is a hard-to-reach part of the country and there would be a road. If the road was functioning, then the development of Western Siberia, the construction of cities, the construction of gas pipelines would cost us much cheaper.
But immediately after Stalin's death, after more than two weeks, on March 25, a resolution was issued to curtail this construction. A lot of effort and money was spent on the construction. 80,000 people were involved in the construction. A third of them were special troops, while the rest were civilian workers who worked in difficult conditions.
However, during these 5 years of construction, the road was actually built. A telegraph connection was established between the northern territories of the country and Moscow, and trains were running. Only a small section between Pur and Novy Urengoy had not yet been put into operation.
However, a completely unreasonable decision was made. Realizing that the government would still need to invest 1 trillion 800 billion rubles, they decided to консервировать the road. If you make the calculations, you'll find that preserving the road will cost about the same amount as it already has, and there's not much left to build. Instead, they make an illogical and unjustified decision to abandon the road.
And we lost these 2 trillion rubles and all our hopes for the development of the North. Two trillion rubles in direct costs back then - several trillion rubles in losses already in the 70s and the first decades of the 80s. Then, in order to build cities, such as Nadym or Novy Urengoy, we had to use helicopters to transport workers, then use helicopters to transport houses for the workers, then use helicopters to transport concrete slabs, build a runway for airplanes, use airplanes to transport parts for a housing and construction complex, and assemble the housing and construction complex. Then, we had to cast concrete slabs on site and build houses. As a result, every square meter and every object in these oil fields cost us tens of billions of gold rubles. However, we could have achieved this more efficiently and at a lower cost if the road had not been abandoned.
This action was beneficial, first of all, to our global competitors, as they would now be called “partners.” Perhaps we were looking for a partnership at the time, or perhaps we were working under direct instructions, but in any case, the road was abandoned, but the topic of the road was not forgotten. The need to restore this route was discussed in the early 2000s. In 2003, the resumption of construction was even announced. However, it was then postponed by 10 years to 2013. In 2013, they started talking about the 30s of this century as the time when the road would be built. Even after 70-80 years, the topic of building this road still scares our Western partners.
Stalin was a prophet in this regard. He saw the need for this road in 1947, but it died with him.
Tunnel crossing to Sakhalin
We needed a tunnel to Sakhalin, first of all, for military purposes. We had acquired an island, and we needed to develop it. We needed to deploy a military force there to protect the sacred borders of our country. A ferry crossing would not have allowed us to transfer a significant military force. The construction of either a bridge or a tunnel would have enabled us to integrate this territory into our national economy. The construction of a bridge would have been comparable in cost to the construction of a tunnel, so we opted for the tunnel. The decision to build it was made in the spring of 1950, and up to 400 billion rubles were allocated for it. The plan was to build 540 km of railway across Sakhalin and a 9 km stretch from Cape Lazarev to Cape Pogibi.
Who could be frightened by Soviet Sakhalin? Who could be frightened by our strengthening in the Far East? Of course, those people who saw a different architecture of international relations, who saw a different balance of power, we played along with them here, we didn't save anything. We removed 15,000 special troops from these projects and transferred them to other facilities, but that was all. Otherwise, these were our direct financial, political, and reputational losses.
The topic of a tunnel or a bridge to Sakhalin is still relevant today. This issue is being discussed at the highest level, at the level of the country's president. The cost of such projects is extremely high even today. It is difficult to make a political decision, and economic feasibility is necessary.
However, in 1950, the country's top political leadership made this decision on the initiative of Joseph Stalin. This decision was reversed in March 1953, immediately after his death.
Stalin's legacy was to plant trees. Without forests, there is no water.
The fourth position is the curtailment of Stalin's plan for the transformation of nature. We can say that this plan is also a kind of Stalin's testament. Stalin bequeathed the planting of trees, because every tree is a reclamation from the steppe desert zone and the dry winds of the fertile lands of our country.
The plan was adopted in 1948. It was planned to reclaim 120 million hectares of land from the steppe zone and include it in the land turnover in 15 years. A territory that is equal to present-day England, France, Italy, and Belgium combined.
As a result of the fact that in the 19th century we lost a significant part of the forest, it was cut down, and the water level decreased. There was an ecological disaster in the territory of modern Lipetsk, Voronezh, part of the Belgorod, Rostov, Volgograd regions, Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories. These lands have been reanimated. They have been put back into circulation.
According to the plan, 8 state forest belts were to be created, with a total length of about 6,000 km and an area of 110,000 hectares. This forest area would allow for the complete rejuvenation of the region. In just five years of implementing the plan, we have achieved remarkable results. Our grain yields have increased by 80%, while our forage yields have increased by 200%. We've made a huge leap in terms of meat, with 100% growth in poultry and pork, and 80% growth in beef. This is all due to our implementation of this plan.
According to our government's plans, by 1960, we were supposed to fully meet our domestic food needs and increase our exports.
However, in 1953, the implementation of the plan was suspended. And not just suspended. Small forest plantations were also being cut down. We had closed 570 forest protection stations. By 1962, the country faced another environmental disaster.
At Khrushchev's initiative, the decision was made to increase crop yields not by improving crop yields, but by expanding the cultivated areas in the Virgin Lands. All the equipment that had been prepared for the implementation of Stalin's plan for the transformation of nature, including new cars, tractors, and grain harvesters, was deployed in the Virgin Lands.
So far, we have not fully ensured the food security of our country. And the revival of this plan in the new conditions is a matter of today. It is very relevant and necessary.