Conflict of interests in the urban development of oil-producing areas in Western Siberia (1960s - 1970s)

The urban development of oil-producing areas in Western Siberia began in the mid-1960s. In the process of the urban development policy in the areas of oil production two major phases can be traced: 1) 1960 - 1970. 2) 1980 - the beginning of the 1990s. The first phase saw the formation of the concept of urban development and resettlement of new industries' workers. At the end of 1960s it was decided to build big base cities, which were to be oil production centres with the direct exploitation of deposits shifts. In the second phase the idea of the group resettlement of workers was developed, according to which small towns and workers' resettlements situated close to the fields should be developed instead of big cities. In this paper the conflict of interests between institutions involved in the process of extractive industries' developing in Tyumen Region and representatives of the regional elite regarding the implementation of the urban development of oil-producing areas is discussed. The main theme here is the confrontation between the Ministry of Oil Industry of the USSR and Tyumen Regional Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on the issue of the building of big cities, the developing of population centres and construction financing. According to the author, the conflict came to an end with the victory of institutions, when in the late 1970s a new concept of urban development was formed. The conflict of interests between institutional and local elites accompanied the formation of the urban development policy in the areas of Tyumen Region. At the end of 1960s Tyumen Regional Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union adopted an approach which provided the building of big cities and fields development in accordance with the rotating scheme. The group resettlement of workers, according to which the populated areas were to be built at the places of oil production and which was supported by the representatives of the Ministry of Oil Industry of the USSR, was rejected. However, in reality institutions built up rotation camps; housing and sociocultural development and urban redevelopment of oil producing cities were poor. All these caused Tyumen leaders' discontent. There was no complete mutual understanding between the ministries themselves; each of them worked for solving their own compartmentalized interests. Eventually, institutions' policy led to the fact that the state dismissed the resettlement system in big cities in favour of the urban development concept proposed by the Ministry of Oil Industry of the USSR.

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