Struggle in Soviet Russia

Viktor finally understood why Woznetsensky and the State Planning Commission he led were disrespected. This was definitely not because he was too serious, nor because of his arrogance, but because under his leadership, the country The planning committee is too lenient. They not only decide the allocation of departmental and local budgets, but also want to have a greater say in how the budget is used.

Since Woznetsensky regained control of the State Planning Commission, the conflicts between the various ministries and localities of the Union and the Planning Commission have been intensifying. Due to his own particularity, coupled with the strong support of Comrade Stalin, Victor could not feel the strength of the Planning Committee, but now, he can really feel it.

In Viktor's view, Woznetsensky, who appeared as a scholar-type official, was actually a person with a different appearance. On the one hand, he condemned Comrade Malenkov for replacing scientific logic with administrative orders, thus causing losses to the Union in the aviation industry. question. Comparing the two, the losses caused by Comrade Malenkov were, at any rate, limited to the aviation industry, while the losses caused by him Woznetsensky were within the scope of the entire alliance.

Indeed, Woznesensky made a great contribution to the socialist economy of the Union. As far as Victor knew, before Woznesensky, the economic circles of the Union generally believed that objective economic laws were important to the society of the Union. The socialist economic system did not work, and in the debates of the 1930s, Woznetsensky led to the development of socialist economics to a certain extent.

However, being one step ahead in the field of economics obviously does not mean that the position in terms of governance is correct. At least after returning to the State Planning Commission, Woznesensky's performance does not match the image of a rational economist.

Take the Karelia-Finnish Soviet Republic as an example, Viktor has been learning about the situation there all the time, of course, even so, he can't say how much he knows about the Karelia region, even more so. There is no guarantee that the decisions you make after taking office will be correct. Why? Because the situation in Karelia is too complicated, there has just been a war, and although the damage is not as great as in Ukraine and Belarus, the damage to the city and road traffic is also very serious, and the industrial base there is almost completely destroyed. Of course, this destruction includes two aspects, one is the losses suffered during the war, and the other is the relocation of local industries to the east before the war.

At present, Moscow has not yet come up with a final decision on whether the industrial enterprises that moved eastward should continue to move back to the west. Therefore, in Victor's view, before this issue is finalized, the war in Karelia will not be finalized. After all, there is no way to fully start the reconstruction work. After all, with the budget allocated by the alliance, Karelia has no ability to rebuild the pre-war industrial system on the basis that the relocated enterprises will not be relocated, and then on the basis of nothing.

In addition, as Victor knows, the Finns did something similar to the Germans when they were in Karelia in their cars, they destroyed the local transportation, whether it was road or rail, and even shipping terminals, They were basically destroyed. Considering Victor’s thinking, if the transportation cannot be restored as soon as possible, then the economic reconstruction of Karelia will not be at all. This should be a common sense issue.

Without the construction of infrastructure such as railway and road transportation, how will the materials used for reconstruction be transported? Without the reconstruction of transportation facilities, even if those industrial and mining enterprises resume normal operation, how will the related products and raw materials be dispatched? Aren't these basic questions?

Now, Woznetsensky and the State Planning Commission he leads view the restoration of transportation as a so-called "supplementary undertaking", and Viktor does not understand where this logic comes from.

Stepping back 10,000 steps, even if we don’t talk about the importance of transportation and only talk about the decision-making power of local economic work, as an official who stays in Moscow all day, how much energy does Voznesensky have? Is it used to understand the actual situation of Karelia region? Well, even if he has a full understanding of the situation in Karelia, the whole league is so big, does he have the energy to understand the situation in each region?

This is obviously impossible, and without a full understanding of the local situation, where did the Planning Commission or Comrade Woznetsensky come up with a general working principle, which can be taken to all parts of the alliance to directly Apply it? This is obviously unscientific.

"That's it, Comrade Nikolai Alexeyevich," said Viktor, frowning for a while, "as you said, I've never dealt with local government work before, and I have nothing to do with it. specific experience, so perhaps in many ways my knowledge and perceptions are questionable.”

First sincerely admitting the shortcomings of his work history, Victor then said: "So, for the questions you raised, I am also happy to ask you for advice. , Petrozavodsk tractor factory, paper mill, Nadvodsk aluminum factory, etc., have these companies that moved to the Urals before the war have determined the relevant relocation dates?”

Woznesensky frowned and said, "No one can give you an accurate answer to this question, but in my opinion, at least you should do the preparatory work."

"Yes, the preparatory work is really important," Victor said, "I am also considering these issues, so I plan to restore the power supply in Karelia, for example, rebuild the Shua River, the Vigo River, etc. Power station on the river."

Karelia has abundant water resources. Therefore, during the first and second five-year plans, a series of hydropower stations were built on the rivers in this region. Unfortunately, during the wars in the past few years, These hydropower stations were either blown up by the Germans or demolished by the Finns. So far, almost none of the hydropower stations that were originally scattered in the North Karelia region have been able to operate normally.

"I agree with your idea," Woznetsensky nodded in approval, "and..."

It can be seen that Woznetsensky's serious expression softened slightly for what Viktor said, which was the idea he proposed to rebuild the hydropower stations in various places. Obviously, this was his approval.

"But, Comrade Nikolai Alexeyevich," Viktor interrupted before he could finish his sentence, and continued his previous tone, "take the Beshba hydroelectric power station on the Shua River for example. , do you know how completely it was destroyed? Do you know how much we need to transport to get it back up and running? If you don't know, I can tell you. The four gates of the Beshba hydropower station have been fully It was blown up. According to the statistics of engineering experts, if we want it to resume operation, we need to reinstall two hydro-generator units, and also need about hundreds of tons of Portland cement and more silicon acid dam cement.”

Woznesensky opened his mouth, as if to say something.

"And the reality is that the city closest to the Beshba Hydropower Station is Shegza," Victor continued without waiting for him to speak, "and the road from Shegza to Beshba is now impossible. Passed, because when the Finns blew up the Beshba hydropower station, they also destroyed the dyke, causing the north bank of the Shua River to burst, thus creating a brand new swamp between the Beshba hydropower station and Shegza. belt."

Victor's voice was not small, but on the lawn at this time, because Comrade Stalin had not yet appeared, everyone present gathered to chat, and at this moment, Victor's voice attracted the attention of more than a dozen people. come over.

"Then, experienced Comrade Nikolai Alexeyevich," Viktor asked at last, not caring about the glances of the people around him, "please tell me if I want the Beshba Hydropower Station to be restored. If it works, how can I transport the much-needed materials?"

"It's just a special case," Woznetsensky said after a moment of silence. "You can't use a special case to represent a general problem."

"But since there is a special case, we need to solve it, don't we?" said Viktor disapprovingly, "Also, Comrade Nikolai Arkseyevich, I think you should know that the size of the Beshba hydropower station is not It's not big, but it provides nearly 15% of the industrial electricity in North Karelia, can you say that this exception is not important?"

"Okay, stop arguing," Voznetsensky seemed to want to say something, but was interrupted by Comrade Andreyev's interjection, the old comrade persuaded him, "this is not the time to discuss work issues. In good times, there's no need to fight over work issues."

Viktor had no interest in arguing with others, he was just dissatisfied with Woznetsensky's excessive interference in his work. However, although Viktor has the upper hand in today's quarrel or debate, he does not feel the slightest excitement in his heart, because he is very clear that when he is actually transferred to the Karelia-Finnish Soviet Republic to preside over the work After that, it is time to really start dealing with the State Planning Commission. Considering the strength of Woznetsensky, it is estimated that he will be limited in the future.