Faizula Gainullin
From 1965 – Director of the Minnibayevo GPP; from 1979 – Deputy Minister of the Gas Industry of the USSR.
“No one could take a post by chance”
Fundamental changes
At the time when Mr. Orudzhev was First Deputy Minister of the Oil Industry of the USSR, the largest amount of oil was produced by the Tatar ASSR, and all of associated gases were processed by the Minnibayevo GPP. Utilization of associated gas at the fields reached 95 per cent of the potential amount, and this hydrocarbon feedstock was used for the construction of such behemoths of the domestic petrochemical industry as the Nizhnekamsk Refinery and the Kazan Organic Synthesis Plant. And much of the credit for this belongs to Sabit Orudzhev. It is worth mentioning that as a result of this the Kazan Plant was already producing over 40 per cent of the country's polyethylene at the time.
Everyone in right place
Sabit Orudzhev paid special attention to staffing, efficient placement of personnel, and meticulous screening of candidates. He taught us to use the very same approach when it came to human resources. That is why no one could take a post by chance, be it in the central office of the Ministry, in regional associations, at directorates or at production sites.
Among friends
His heart was big enough for everyone regardless of ranks or positions.
In 1979, my wife and I vacationed together with Sabit Orudzhev and his wife in the Bulgarian city of Varna. Mr. Orudzhev would often invite me to go fishing. A Bulgarian man named Yasha was in charge of fishing activities, and all fishing fans from the government-owned health resort knew him and always greeted him as if he were their old friend. But it was only Sabit Orudzhev who really gave special attention to that ordinary man by inviting him and his family to Moscow and helping them with papers. Afterwards, Yasha was a frequent guest in the home of Mr. Orudzhev when visiting Moscow.
Sad prophecy
Not long before he died, Mr. Orudzhev's friends looked at his robust physique and said half-jokingly that he was destined to live for more than 100 years, considering his father's longevity. Mr. Orudzhev suddenly grew sad and answered, as he must have been aware of the gravity of his disease: “Thank you for your kind words, but don't forget that my father never served as a minister.”
