SOVIETS DEVELOP BACKWARD AREAS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600290822-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 29, 2011
• Sequence Number: 822
• Publication Date: March 28, 1950
• Content Type: REPORT

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CLASSIFICATION rI
SECRET SE&r I
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS
COUNTRY USSR
SUBJECT Economic - Economic development
HOW
PUBLISHED Daily newspapers
WHERE
-PUBLISHED USSR
DATE
PUBLISHED 6 Nov - 16 Dec 1949
LANGUAGE Russian
THIS DOCONINT CONTAINS INSOINATI ON AFTICTIXO TNI NATI ORAL DIIINSI
Or TN[ OXIr[D SUM IITNIN TN[ NIANINO O SrIONAOa ACT SO
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01 In CONi[Nn IN ART NANNSN TO AN IJNAOTNOUnO 14 SON IS rO0-
NUInO [T LAN. AVAOOOCTION Or T." To.? ROxI[InD
DATE OF
INFORMATION 1949
REPOR'
CD NO,
DATE DIST. [;ar 1950
NO. OF PAGES 4
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
LNumbers in parentheses refer to the list of sources-7
Tuva Autonomous Oblast
In 1944, when Tuva People's Republic became Tuva Autonomous Oblast, signifi-
cant industrial, agricultural and sociological changes took place. in 1947, nomads
who formerly built temporary yurts on the plains in Tandinskiy Rayon decided to
build houses along the banks of the Turgen River. I'Chogatay" Kolkhoz, composed of
68 households, was formed. It is one of a hundred kolkhozes which have been organ-
ized during the past few years in Tuva. During its 2 years of existence, "Choga-
tay" has become well settled. It is electrified, and has about 400 hectares of
land sown with grain. A school, bakery. hethfirnme, stable, __fl rowehed hove been.
built. Each family is plentifully supplied with grain and milk and meat products.
Construction work is expanding from year to year. During 1949 - 1950, the So-
viet government provided Tuva Autonomous Oblast with 250,000 cubic meters of lum-
ber.on long-term credit.
The 1949 year plan for construction includes the building of 10 kolkhozes,.
1,200 dwelling houses for kolkhoz workers, 38 schools, many clubs, village reading
rooms, bathhouses, over 200 kolkhoz carpenters' shops, sheds for agricultural
machines, and other buildings. The plan is being completed successfully.
The changes which have occurred during the past 5 years have completely
transformed the appearance of the landscape. New machines have been introduced.
Formerly, the only tool used by the arats (nomadic far-i:?s) was a knife. Now the
arat has at his disposal tractors and combines; he is a locksmith and carpenter,
mechanic and chauffeur.
Education and culture are advancing. Talented workers and representatives
of science, culture, and art are now found among arats, who before 1930 did not
even have an alphabet. The Tuva Dramatic Theatre presents Russian classical plays,
such as "Molodaya Gvardiya" (Young Guard) performed iL the Tuva language.. Hundreds, of
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arats study in secondary educational institutions which have been opened during the
past few years. Among them are an agricultural. technical school, a pedagogical in-
stitute, and a kolkhoz school. Many students are attending Leningrad University
and higher educational institutes in Moscow, Novosibirsk, and Irkutsk. A depart-
ment of the Union of Soviet Writers has been opened in order to spread political and
scientific knowledge.(1)
Novosibirsk Oblast, RSFSR
The Barabinskaya Steppe, located between the Irtysh and Ob rivers, covers a
large area and is rich in natural resources. It has vast expanses of rich meadow-
land and pastures; its forests have many wild animals; the huge peat bogs contain
large accumulations of peat; and its lakes and rivers abound in fish and waterfowl.
In the future, the development of the livestock and dairy industries will be the
main task of agriculture in Baraba.
In past years, this area was considered useless. The stagnant condition of the
huge lowland basin hindered the proper utilization of the rich food resources and
the development of productive livestock raising. Only after the large-scale intro-
duction of remedial measures, undertaken after the October Re-'olution, was it possi-
ble to utilize the pastures and food-growing areas of the steppe for agriculture.
Kolkhozes and sovkhozes of its 70 administrative rayons in a very short period of
time constructed numerous drainage canals which drained thousands of swamps. This
greatly aided the steppe's development. The steppe began to provide the country
with millions of tons of grain and hundreds of thousands of pud of first-quality
vegetable oils per year.
The-war retarded the steppe's development and resulted in changes. In Febru-
ary 1944, the Council of People's Commissars stated in a decree that the basic
branch of agriculture developed in the Barabinskaya Steppe should be the raising of
dairy cattle, with specialization in butter and cheese production. Four years la-
ter in 1948 the Council of Minister USSR adopted a special decree which stated that
Baraba should become the largest center for the dairy and butter industries in the
Soviet Union. This was followed by the Stalin Three-Year Plan for the development
of livestock raising.
Since the war, Baraba has progressed a long way in carrying out its task of
drying up the swamplands and converting them into pastures and meadowlands. The
successful completion of this work will make it possible to create a stable food
base and also to increase the number of head of thoroughbred cattle. With the num-
ber of livestock incrcacina-, it be o.-;e n
Ecobttary to construct new warns, sheds, and
other dwellings and to remodel old ones. This construction is now widespread
throughout the steppe, In 1949, five MTS were erected in order to aid the building
up of a stable food base. These stations are to cut and harvest grain, sow grass,
dig canals, drain swamps for pastures, establish new forests, and improve roads.
So far, in Kyshtovskiy Rayon, 19 kilometers of the Aryntsash-Bashkul' Canal have
been repaired; in Chulymskiy Rayon, a canal connecting Lake Itkul' and the Chulum
River has been completed; and in Mikhaylovskiy Rayon, 6 kilometers of the Izlinskiy
Canal have been repaired. A total of more than 100 kilometers of canals, which
will make it possible to drain 4,500 hectares of land, have also been repaired.
Construction work is progressing on all levels. In the city of Kuybyshev, a
new teachers' institute has been opened; and in the village of Kargat, a new cream-
ery has been put into operation. In Kozinskiy Rayon, a new pontoon bridge has been
built across the Om' River; and in Kozino, a new sovkhoz hotel has been opened. In
the village, of Kochki, the rayon branch of the Association for the Dissemination of
Political anti Scientific Information has been created; in Tatarek, 450 new standard-
type houses have been built and a children's music school has been opened; and in
the village of Berezovka, Kyshtovskiy Rayon, electricity and controllable loudspeak-
ers have been installed. At present, there are in the Barabinskaya Steppe about 100
well-equipped mechanized plants with production processes completely electrified. --
M. Avtomanov, ilovosibirsk.(2)
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Since the beginning of Soviet rule, Tadzhikistan has been radically trans-
formed. Cotton fields now replace fields of wild tugai (an Asiatic xerophyte);
electric power plants have appeared in mountain passes; industrial buildings have
been constructed.
Lemons are being grown for the first time in central Asia although the project
is still in the experimental stage. Experiments in raising citrus fruits were first
conducted in the Vakhsh Zonal Station of the All-Union Scientific Research Institute
for Dry Subtropics. In 1949, lemon sets brought by airplane from Georgia were
planted in rows specially prepared by kolkhoz and sovkhoz workers of Vakhsh, Gissar-
skiy, and Fergana valleys. Most of the sets grew. In a few years, citrus fruits
should be growing successfully in Turkmen and Tadzhikistan.
Tadzhikistan scholars, in conjunction with kolkhoz workers, are working to in-
troduce bogara, a type of grain grown in central Asia on nonirrigated dry land.
This work is only beginning. In the near future, hundreds of hectares of mountain
slopes will become fruitful gardens.
As in the rest of the Soviet Union, the plan for the transformation of nature
is being carried out in Tadzhikistan. A large part of the population has been drawn
into the work of planting new forest belts, since forests in Tadzhikistan play an
important role in protecting fields, orchards and vineyards from destructive winds
and dust storms. The new forests will protect the fertile soil from erosion and
will furnish lumber for building material. At present, lumber for the republic's
expanding construction work has to be carried long distances. The creation of new
forest areas close to the construction work will reduce transportation and save much
time.
During the next 4-5 years, forestry planting on the spurs of the Gissarskiy
.Range will be completed. Forest zones must also be planted in the semidesert areas
of the republic and in the valleys of the Syr-Darya, Vakhsh, Yakh-Su, Kzyl-Su, and
other rivers. Tree planting in towns and villages is also progressing on a large
scale.(3)
the Sarezskoye and Shadaukul' lakes and the Murgab and Bartang rivers. One of the
principall tasks of the station is to study the role of Sarezskoye Lake as an enor-
Future study of this lake may aid in its utilization for the industrial and
agricultural requirements of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast in the Tadzhik
SSR.(4)
Chukchi National Okrug
Ayon Island, located at the mouth of Chaunskiy Bay in Chukot National Okrug,
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I
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SECRET
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Kolkhoz workers are successfully engaged in catching sea animals. Recently,
over 1,000 seals were caught in a very short period of time.
Construction work on the island is also progressing. Komsomols and young work-
ers have built a school and are now drawing up plans for the erection of homes.(5)
Yakut ASSR
The settlement of Medvezhka is located above the Arctic Circle near Ambarchik
Bay. It is the base of the successful nomadic kolkhoz, "Turvaurgin." Since the
time that reindeer herders began to live in houses instead of yurts, kolkhoz mem-
bers with the aid of Arctic dwellers in Ambarchik Bay have built an electric power
plant and have installed electricity in the houses.(6)
SOURCES
1. Vechernyaya Moskva, No 286, 3 Dec 49
2. Zarya Vostoka, No 219, 6 Nov 49 and Kraanaya Zvezda, No 276, 23 Nov 49
4. Vokrug Sveta, No 11, Nov 1949
5. Vechernyaya Moskva, No 277, 23 Nov 49
6. Vechernyaya Moskva, No 296, 16 Dec 49