MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION ON RIGA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80T00246A044500180001-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 20
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 7, 2010
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: September 25, 1958
• Content Type: REPORT

CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
This material coritaine information affecting the National Defense of the United States within the meaning of the Espionage Laws, Title
18, U.S.C. Secs. 793 and 794, the transmission or revelation of which in any manner to an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
S`-E- C-R-E-T
COUNTRY USSR (Latvian SSR)
SUBJECT Miscellaneo ,a Information on Riga
DATE OF
INFO.
PLACE &
DATE ACQ.
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REPORT
DATE DISTR. 25' September 1958
NO. PAGES
REFERENCES
SOURCE EVALUATIONS ARE DEFINITIVE. APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS TENTATIVE. 1% r
(numbers are keyed to sketch):
was for military use. The annotated. sketch gives locations of the following
It was rumoredIQSJ that the name of the VEF had-been-replaced by a
numerical designation. part of the plant's produco
C 25X1
A 31+-page report on Riga [N 56-57,E 21+-05 (including 25X1
a sketch
The report contains infor-
-__l.f
l- 3
Bridges
VEF Plant
.5
Bicycle Plant
6
Tricot Textile Plant
7
New thermal blectric power plant
8
Radio btation
8b,c
Atomic shelters /-See sketch on page J
9
Residential section called VEF
10
Popov Radio Manufacturing Plant
11
New naval work area
12
Radio broadcasting center
13
Old civilian airport
14
Frunze Academy
15
Barracks for artillery, armored, and infantry units
16
Military ,RepS.ir Shop
17
Baltic Military District Headquarters
18
KGB headquarters for Latvia
19
Latvian Council of Ministers
20
Seat of Rayon Communist Party
21
City fail
22 Area of gas plant and. '_Lain
'rison
23 Railroad Car Manufacturing and. Repair Plant
STATE I I,; ARMY X NAVY Ix lAIR X Ke-
(Note: Washington distribution indicated by "V; Fi*1d distribution by
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Sketch. Indicating Locations of Atomic Shelters
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ILLtI,Ib
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CENTRAL INTEItlO&-!CE AGeNCY
a sc+rta! rwaoduvr satorenu-uoo a~eeel Ma /wrMOW 800100 a[ JU OWN ft"O '
Woft #a as fteM and 7%, we aran,eat"let at MakAft fe Ifta 1 OII 1W~ M M man k fl&1f. Tow
"memo" M ear.
J ,;',RY USSR (Latvian SaR)
i 4i.:3c 1ianeous Inrormation on.
?F
ALUATIONS
,tion ti~t~i?idEr;, ule-R iMOlriki'..
It was rumored 1 tDae 1Q X "M lie, OW works LT95i7 that awe!` a
numerical de8ignatian. bad, been d 0'
Vat of Punts WVdW*
tblr ' iaon
was for military use. aa~
ambers are keyed to sketdt):
1-3 - Bridges
- VLF Plant
`-~ - Bicycle Plautt
6 - Tricot Textile Pj,ant
7 - New thermal bloattic V SON*
- ! d i c, station 8b, c - Atowi.c shelters fRee *ketch on pop
%
Radio btanut*cf i
,
1I - ",w naVrr~1~"work arcs
l /t4io b casting #gftor
L~ - (;L1 civilian airport
1 } - Frunze Acadeeey
~7 - t.3t.rrficks for art tr
lr. - Mi 11 ts"W UO -Afi - .L- ', al b WA ~-
11A1t+1Military District $ W 'tm"a
h CA ha+dyuartrs for Latvta
c' - Latv ian Council of Knieters
') - Seat of Rayon Coseeunist Party
Ci. ty Jell
- ArNrrt of o~i ..1 ~,.,- __~ _ . _
'. 2$ irgtaeNlber 190
HM 00406 2
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s n in
subject installation is located near the
main prison, which is in the area marked No. 22 on attached sketch No. 1.
7. New Thermal-Electric Power Plant in Riga
(May 1957)
General Remarks
This is a new thermal-electric power plant which began operations in
early 1957. It was built by labor battalions. It is one of the largest
installations of its kind in Latvia. It was said that it was in a position
to do the following:
1. Export current to Estonia.
2. Supply Riga with hot-water heating.
3. Supply current to all plants in Latvia, including those in Riga.
Location
The plant is located in the area marked No. 7 on attached sketch No. 1.
Characteristics
the characteristics of subject plant, as fol- 25X1
lows (the letters of the alphabet below correspond to those appearing on at-
tached sketch No. 1):
a. Machine building, about 70 x 50 meters in size, containing generators
and dynamos.
b. Four buildings, about 20 x 20 meters in size, each containing one
boiler.
c. Brick smokestack, about 50 meters high.
d. Pipes for drawing water from Kis Lake.
e. Railroad spur.
In addition, subject installation has underground fuel storage facilities,
conveyor belts, a fuel [peat] pulverization installation, and a transformer
station.
Workers' houses are located nearby.
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A. MILITARY GROUND FORCES
Targets in Riga
(May 1957)
Baltic Military District Headquarters
Housed in a gray 6-story building, located in the area marked No. 17 on
attached sketch No. 1.
Commanding officer: a [field. marshal of Ukrainian origin, who reported
to this post recently. kk.,~,1rV~SAT. IfIc-rup,&IT4
Territorial jurisdiction: subject headquarters has jurisdiction over
Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania as far as Kaliningrad.
Atomic shelters: an atomic shelter has been dug in the biilding1s immediate
vlbinity.
MGB General Headquarters for Latvia
Housed in a gray 7-story building, located in the area marked No. 18 on
attached sketch No. 1.
Commanding officer: a general.
In the basement of this bullding there are prison cells whose doors are
6e.
said to /electrically operated.
Barracks
barracks are located in the general area marked
6r, u54.
No. 15 on attached sketch No. 1. These barracks mire artillery, armored
force, and infantry units. These latter units are fewer in number.
Atomic Shelters
Atomic shelters have been established near the headquarters of the Baltic 1
Military District and near the railroad station (in the area marked 8b on
attached sketch No-1)
Another such shelter was under construction in the area marked 8c on
attached sketch No. 1, directly across from the building of the Latvian
Council of Ministries (No. 19 on the sketch).
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Military Shop for Miscellaneous Repairs '4tldekllet~
This shop is located in the general area of the abovementioned barracks
and is marked No. 16 on attached sketch No. 1. The shop repairs clothing,
footwear, field kitchens, motor vehicles, and armored vehicles.
Commanding officer: a major, assisted by other military personnel.
Number of workers employed: about 2,000.
Radio Broadcasting Center
Housed in the building of the television station inaugurated in 1956,
and located in the area marked No. 12 on attached sketch No. 1.
"Frunze" Academy for Engineer-Technical Service Officers and Military Citadel
Located in the area marked as No. 14+ on attached sketch No. 1.
there is a school for Engineer-Technical Corps career
officers.
Students are admitted to the academy after completing the 10 years of com-
pulsory schooling. The courses at the academy last 4-5 years, and graduating
officers also receive engineering degrees.
This same school also gives technical courses attended by Air Force officers,
including pilots, apparently to become familiarized with engines, aircraft
parts, etc.
B. TRANSPORTATION
1. Railroad Tunnel Under Construction Under Khibiny Mountains
(1955)
General Remarks
Construction of this tunnel was started in 1955 and was scheduled for
completion in 1960.
Purpose of Project
The purpose of the tunnel is to connect Kirovsk with the Murmansk railroad
line without passing through Apatity, thus transporting more rapidly, by rail-
road, fertilizing ore (apatite) to the port of Murmansk.
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Description
/' 7' A10dmek~
the tunnel is to be 4+0 (?) kilometers long; 25X1
it is believed, however, that this figure refers to the over-all length of
the link between Kirovsk and the Murmansk railroad line.
Number of Workers Employed
About 50,000, all convicts.
Other Data
Apatity, a well-known apatite mining center, is being expanded.
It was rumored locally that the city would soon change its name.
technicians are said to be working at Apatity in the extraction and
marketing of apatite.
The city of Kirovsk is inhabited for the most part by exiles, who have
been there since 1927 and have established domicile there.
2. Bridges Spanning Daugava River at Riga
(May 1957)
General Remarks
The Daugava River at Riga is spanned by three road bridges and one rail-
road bridge. Of the three road bridges, two are temporary, while the third,
permanent in nature, was still under construction, though nearly completed,
in May 1957.
(For the location of these bridges, see attached sketch No. 1, on which
the four bridges are identified numerically, from one to 3a, in the order in
which they are listed below.)
Wood Road Bridge
All-wood.
Built after the war.
Designed by a woman engineer, who received a 100,000-ruble prize for
Temporary.
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Street car lines 1, 2, 4 and 8, which formerly passed over this`s bri e
no longer do so because the bridge is considered old.
Length: about 400 (?) meters.
Width: about 40 (?) meters.
Sidewalks, each about 1.50 meters wide.
Pontoon Road Bridge
Built about 1948.
Located at the site of a prewar regular bridge F
Length: about 400 (?) meters.
Width: about 40 (?) meters.
Wooden roadway.
Supported by about 30 pontoons with steel hulls and wooden decks, about
50 (?) meters long and about 10 meters wide; the pontoons are placed at in-
tervals of about 4 meters.
Street car lines 1, 2, 4 and 8, which formerly ran on the wooden bridge
described above, now run on this bridge; there is a double track for street
cars.
Street cars and motor vehicles are forbidden to stop on the bridge.
This bridge is to be eliminated upon completion of the bridge described
inmmediately below.
New Masonry Road Bridge
In May 1957, only the finishing touches remained to be added before
completion of this bridge; it was already open to pedestrian traffic.
Construction began in 1956 and was to be completed in time for the 1958
anniversary of the October Revolution.
Made of reinforced concrete [sic].
Length: about 300 meters.
Width. about 60 meters.
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25X
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Street car lines 1, 2, 4 and 8, which now run on the pontoon bridge
described above, will eventually run on this bridge; there will be a double
track.
The roadway is supported by the following: (a) 7 pairs of elliptical
concrete piers, in water, each about 2.50 meters wide, covered with cut stone,
and equipped with three icebreaker "spurs";;-(b) 2 monolithic piers resting
on the dry bed; and (c) 2 auxiliary piers located between the two above-
mentioned piers and the abutments of the bridge. The piers rest on stone
Above the roadway are three large reinforcement arches made of steel trellis.
I S.
The bridge has steel raillv% b
The surface is in concrete.
The sidewalks are each about 3 meters wide.
The river banks in the bridge area are concrete scarps.
Distance between the water level and the roadway: at low water, about
5 meters; at high water, about 4 meters.
[A sketch of this bridge appears on page 11 of the original document,
New Railroad Bridge
Built in 1953 on the site of an old bridge which had been destroyed,
subject bridge is in all things analogous to the bridge described immediately
above. The railroad line running on it is double-tracked.
3. Railroad Stations in Riga
(May 1957)
Central Passenger Station
Located in the area marked No. 8 in attached sketch No. 1. Its peculiarity
consists in not having its tracks on the same level as the terminal. In fact,
one group of 4 tracks, called "city station," is located "below" and is for
trains running to and from Leningrad and Moscow. Another group of 4 tracks,
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called "peripheral station," is located on a higher level and is
.to and from Sloka and Yelava. The Riga-Sloka section was electrified about
1955 and, according to existing plans, is to be electrified at the earliest
possible time as far as Tukums.
The station has no underpasses.
Plans exist to expand the station, but since there is no additional space
available above ground, it is said that an underground station will be built.
Excavation work has been carried.out in the area marked 8b on attached
sketch No. 1 for the purpose of building an atomic shelter.
Freight Station
Located in the area marked 8a on attached sketch No. 1.
C. INDUSTRY
1. Plant Producing Radios and Other
Electrical Appliances in Rim
(May 1957)
VET' (already known); it was being said that the name of subject plant had
been replaced by a numerical designation.
Location
Subject plant is located on Lenina street, just beyond the railroad under-
pass. (See No. 4 on attached sketch No. 1.)
Characteristics
The plant is described as huge; it consists of about 30 buildings and is
undergoing constant expansion.
Jurisdiction
The plant is directly under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Heavy
Industry (R) in Moscow.
Manager 25X1
Member of the Soviet Presidium Politically
fanatic and heartless; in 1957, he asked the court severely punish his son,
who had been charged with robbery. The young man was sentenced to 25 years in
prison.
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N 11 -1 V!, I
Chief Enaineer
Unident
ing field an
1 / IQ 1,?" e 14 f
-
is an "inventor" in the radio er
:oegine
he was dismissed and imprisoned because radio sets which
were ready for export were found to be defective.
Production
The plant produces the following items:
Radios and radiophonographs of the following brands: Akord, Volga,
Baltica, Riga, and one unidentified brand.
Riga brand television sets.
Record players.
Auto radios.
Telephones.
Electric lamps.
Radar antennas and perhaps also complete radar units.
Neon light tubes.
Unspecified optical apparatus.
Part of the plant's production is for military use. 25X1
the plant produces about 1,500 radio sets Tier 24 hour period.
Subject plant's products are for the domestic market and for export, mostly
to [Communist] China and [Nort}i Korea.
Workers
The plant employs over 10,000 workers, divided into three shifts. Their
number is constantly on the increase, so much so that there is a worker re-
sidential section in the city called VEF, including a workers village of sub-
ject plant, located towards Kis Lake, in the area marked No. 9 in attached
sketch No. 1.
Workers Morale and Strikes
The morale of the workers is low because of the low pay they receive.
In early 1957, there was a k-hour strike in support of demands for a
pay increase. The strike was spearheaded by the mechanics department. There
were arrests, transfers, etc., but work was soon resumed and nothing was obtained.
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Snig
`.. Ji
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2. "Popov" Radio Manufacturing Plant in ia_
(Y 1957)
Location
In the area marked No. 10 on attached sketch No. 1. This is a prewar
plant, consisting of three buildings which produced radios also before the
war.
Production
"Small" radio receiving and transmLitting sets for the armed forces.
Radio receiving sets for civilian use. Radio tubes.
Workers
The plant employs about 2,000 workers, all civilians, divided into three
shifts.
3. Bicycle Plant in Riga
(May 1957)
This plant, located in the area marked No. 5 on attached sketch No. 1,
consists of 6 closed sheds. It produced unknown brands of bicycles and em-
ploys about 3,000 workers in three shifts.
4. Tricot Textile Plant in Rica
AMY 1957)
Located in the area marked No.6 on attached sketch No. 1; consists of
4 buildings.
5. Railroad Car Manufacturing and
Repair Plant in Rigs
(MAY 1957)
Built in 1955-1956 and consisting of 4 "large" buildings, subject in-
stallation is located in the area marked No. 23 on attached sketch No. 1. It
has a railroad stock depot and engages in the production of railroad cars and
the repairing of railroad stock in general.
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E 1"
25X1
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SECRET
Boilers and Turbines L_
There are 4 boilers.
QC ink'#'
a single one of e
boilers was the quivalent of a thermal-electric power plant sufficient for
an entire city.
The number of turbines is not known.
Fuel Used
Top-grade peat, mined from a deposit located about 30 kilometers from
Riga, in an unspecified direction. This deposit is sufficient to supply
the plant's needs for 50 years.
The amount of peat used by subject plant at present amounts to 16 rail-
road carloads per 24-hour period. each carload weighs about 25X1
4-tons.
Number of Workers
About 3,000, divided into three shifts. The workers, most of whom are
employed in the maintenance of the plant, are also employed in the maintenance
and installation of the power lines in the area. This accounts for their
large number.
D. AVIATION
1. New Armed Milite" Airfield
in Riga Area
(May 1957)
25X1
a new armed military airfield is
located in a wooded area about 20 kilometers southeast of the city, along
the highway leading to Moscow. The airfield reportedly has a concrete runway.
2. Military and Civilian Airfield at Murmansk 25X1
(1955)
an airfield, built
after the war, is located about 3 kilometers north of the city, and that it is 25X1
a military airfield open to civilian traffic.
this airfield is the terminus of the Murmansk-Moscow civil air line.
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