Krasnoyarsk. Monument to Andrey Dubensky, the founder of Krasnoyarsk.
Photo: Alexander Paniotov
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Joining the North
// Pages on a definite theme
A place of exile at one time, the Krasnoyarsk Territory is now a big industrial region of the country. And after incorporating the Evenki and Taimyr areas, the Krasnoyarsk Territory is going to become the main centre of oil and gas extraction in the 21st century.
Krasnoyarsk Territory
The territory, the second largest part of the Russian Federation after Yakutia, has special relations with time and space. The flight from Krasnoyarsk to Norilsk takes almost as long as from Krasnoyarsk to Moscow. When orchards and gardens are in blossom in the south of the territory, when water-melons are gathered in Minusinsk, deer-breeders in Taimyr ride in their sledges and rivers in the North are still ice-bound.
Several centuries ago this territory, just as the whole of Siberia, served mainly two purposes: it provided furs for the entire country and for export, and was a place for exile of the people regarded criminals by the authorities. Decembrists and revolutionaries served their sentences there (Lenin was exiled to Shushenskoye, and there is still the house-museum of Stalin in Turukhansk, where he lived in exile).
But already 200 years ago it became clear that the territory could give more to Russia than simply serve as a place for isolating undesirable persons. In the middle of the 19th century about 90% of all gold in Russia was mined there.
Today, the territory is among the five leaders of export in Russia. But even with all their industrial importance, the enterprises sitiuated in the south of the territory cannot compare with “Norilsky nikel”, which accounts for 70% of all budget revenues.
Kransoyarsk land is rich not only in mineral resources, but also in outstanding inhabitants. The well-known Russian writer Viktor Astafyev was born and lived and worked there, the wonderful opera singer Dmitry Khvorostovsky began his career in Krasnoyarsk. The local school of free-style wrestling is the country's strongest, its representative Ivan Yarygin is a twice world champion.
During the 1990s Krasnoyarsk was famous for its “aluminium wars” , the rule of General Alexander Lebed as the governor of the territory, and also the criminal case of Anatoly Bykov, the owner of the Krasnoyarsk aluminium plant (KrAZ) and one of the most influential persons in the territory. Incidentally, Bykov's criminal case was initiated by Governor Lebed, whose election campaign had been financed by the aluminium tycoon.
Alexander Lebed died in an air crash and Anatoly Bykov was left in peace after he gave away his KrAZ shares. He is now a deputy to the territorial parliament, successful businessman and enjoys respect among his local fellow-countrymen. According to sociological surveys, his party “Eurasian Alliance” is ahead of the liberal-democratic, communist and “Rodina” parties. Nevertheless, the most influential party in the territory, just as in the entire country, is “United Russia” (45% of all voters). The present governor Alexander Khloponin is one of the key figures in the party. The sixth congress of “United Russia” will be held in Krasnoyarsk.
Alexander Khloponin won the governor's elections in September 2002, his main rival having been Alexander Uss, backed by the “Rusal” Company. Khloponin's promise to effect “a powerful economic leap” has not materialized.
Many local enterprises either stand idle or work part-time. “KrAZ” and “Kraszvetmet” are the most prestigious industrial enterprises in the city. According to rumours, their employees' wages are very high (over 18,000 roubles a month), and it's very difficult to get a job there.
The hope for a leap is about to materialize. The territorial authorities have elaborated an ambitious project of developing the resources in the lower reaches of the Angara River and rich oil deposits in the south of Evenkia (for details see p….) The governor of the territory has scored a major political victory: he succeeded in incorporating the Evenki and Taimyr authonomous areas in the Krasnoyarsk territory.
Evenkia
The territory of Evenkia is 772,000 square kilometres (equal to two-and-a-half Germanies), its population is less than 18,000. According to demoecological division, it is an absolutely discomfortable zone: the average January temperature is 34 – 38 degrees below Zero, Celsius, quite often the temperature plummets to minus 50 and lower.
The author of this article has personally experienced the horrors of visiting the loo in winter. In 1990 the only warm toilet was in the hotel belonging to the local communist party committee, all others were out in the open. So one could imagine what courage was required for going there at night when the temperature was minus 50 and lower.
When YUKOS has come to Evenkia, life there became more civilized, the communications system developed rapidly (the Internet was in almost every reindeer tent), but water mains and sewage systems are still a problem in the conditions of the permafrost.
Frost is a major component of local life. When it is below minus 40, children do not attend school, cars, trucks and tractors' engines are not switched off. If one swiches off the engine in winter, one will be able to start it only next spring.
However, in spring cars, trucks and tractors are not needed there, because there are no roads. Whereas in winter people ride along the frozen rivers. But inasmuch as distances are great, up to 300 kilometres and more between settlements, the main means of transport are the An-2 planes and helicopters.
Vodka is drunk here with a “chocolate bar”, this is what the frozen raw liver of the deer or elk is called. It melts in the mouth. The same is about the raw frozen fish. Besides, the fish we like “on the continent” is considered “trash” here. Local people eat salmon and sturgeon as appetizers for vodka and beer.
Hunting is one of the main entertainments, and also a means of earning additional money, in the local area. Many men take a couple of days-off, put on skis and go for several dozen kilometres along frozen river beds, checking traps. After collecting spoils, eating and drinking whatever they took with them, they return to their engines still running while they were away.
The main fur animal is the sable. A hunter may get up to 30 sables during the winter (this is something about 25,000 roubles).
The indigenous population, Evenkis, form one-fifth of the inhabitants of the area. Each Evenki will tell you that his ancestors came from China, it was they who built Beijing, and that the last two emperors of China were Evenki. Today very few Evenkis know their native language, the only connection with their traditions is the deer. Now their number is about 7,000, but some 15 years ago just one Surindinsky state farm kept twice as many deer. The Evenkis believe that the day will come when all difficulties go away and the “great argish” (market in the local language) opens with many deer going from one camp to another.
Taimyr
Taimyr is even larger in territory and populated even more sparsely than Evenkia (0.044 men per square kilometre). The climate here is even harsher: in addition to bitter frosts, strong blizzards are quite frequent there. The area lies beyond the Arctic Circle and the northernmost tip of Eurasia, Chelyuskin Cape, is situated there.
This place is good for extreme tourism and hunting. In the south of Taimyr one can see aurochs and ibexes in the Putoran Mountains. The remaining part of the area is the tundra, which becomes a large bog in summer.
The drifting of ice begins in May – June and the water level in the Yenisei goes up by 10 to 14 metres. This causes a great trouble in the port of Dudinka, the administrative centre of the area, where all cargoes, port machinery and equipment, etc. should be lifted by almost 20 metres.
The role of Dudinka for the area is very great. It receives commodities for Norilsk and ships its products via the Northern Sea Route. The “Norilsky nikel” Company is the main supplier of nickel to the world. Since the mid-1990s the world prices of this metal have grown five times.
Norilsk has the population of 200,000. It lies amind the tundra and is surrounded by dozens of kilometres of pipes, numerous cranes, towers and other mechanisms and installations. The town itself resembles St.Petersburg by the planning of its streets and squares. The houses have been built on ferroconcrete piles due to the permafrost, but quite often watermain pipes cannot withstand bitter frosts and burst, then the houses begin “to float”. In 1994, due to these mishaps, 70 buildings collapsed there.
Despite very difficult conditions, people are quite happy there. Apart from nickel, other deposits have been discovered: diamonds, rare metals, and coal. But the main thing is that recently over 30 oil and gas deposits have been found there, and in experts' estimates, the main regions of oil and gas extraction will be in Taimyr in the 21st century.
Vladimir Gendlin
All the Article in Russian as of Oct. 31, 2005
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