Vladimir Dolgikh
From 1972 – Secretary of the Central Committee of the USSR Communist Party.
“He withstood hardship with grace!”
Birth of new ministry
With the discovery of major gas fields in Western Siberia, the need arose to create a special ministry for the gas industry, and Sabit Orudzhev was put in charge of that ministry. He built the ministry like an enterprise, created the management structure, selected the personnel, and set up the management team of the Gas Industry Ministry. The task of creating a new ministry is larger than the task of working with a ministry already in place. And from this point of view, Mr. Orudzhev proved to be a facilitator, a go-getter, and a tough and firm leader who knew how to justify the requests for various kinds of resources.
Industry development
In the eight years of his leadership, the production volumes of the industry more than doubled, the construction of gas pipelines was streamlined, the cooperation with other industries became wider and deeper, and cutting-edge technologies were implemented to integrate scientific advances and mechanical aids.
They started to convert power plants and some enterprises to gas fuel. It was not always a right decision, but in some cases the use of natural gas proved to be crucial for the development of enterprises and brought labor efficiency to another level. When Sabit Orudzhev was put in charge of the ministry, they began building gas processing, gas chemical, and petrochemical complexes, and this had a huge effect on the entire Soviet economy at the time.
When the country's economic policy was being shaped, Mr. Orudzhev contributed to it more than just a minister of the gas industry. Like a volcano, he was bursting with initiatives and ideas, including ones of technical nature. It was Mr. Orudzhev who put forward the initiative to prepare the ministry for large-scale works on the shelf. The initiative resulted in the creation of Gazflot. Sabit Orudzhev was the first to suggest building a platform-producing plant in the north of the Caspian Sea (the plant is active and successful to this day). Mr. Orudzhev achieved the commencement of the exploration and construction works for the creation of the Orenburg and Astrakhan gas complexes.
At Orenburg Gas Processing Plant. Left to right: Yu. Zaitsev, V. Chernomyrdin, A. Kosygin, V. Shashin, S. Orudzhev, and A. Voronov
Tough but charming talker
When Sabit Orudzhev held the floor, he was magnetic. Guided by his own opinion, he would often tell even the most unpleasant things to the faces of government members, and if necessary, to the members of the Communist Party's Central Committee as well. This approach usually brought good results.
The industry was getting opportunities to thrive on the basis of the latest scientific and technological achievements, received extra subsidies, was given the right to conduct scientific experiments, and enjoyed many other advantages which other “quiet” ministers could never hope to obtain.
He was a bit quick-tempered, especially when defending his opinions, but did not bear grudges. A tough leader, he was also tough on himself. But I have never heard any of the subordinate personnel complain about him being unfair. And of course, when Mr. Orudzhev was wrong, he would admit his mistake.
Sabit Orudzhev was a nice and interesting man to talk to. A grand and distinctive person, handsome in many senses of the word. He had an immense love for Azerbaijan, and could talk for hours about his native land and everything related to it.
Not long before Mr. Orudzhev died, I visited him at his dacha. He was already severely ill at the time, but I didn't know that. Looking at him and talking to him, no one would be able to guess that this man was suffering. He withstood hardship with grace.
