Anna Demchenko, exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
Strategic nuclear containment was very important during the Cold War between the USSR and the USA. In recent years the military industrial complex of Russia is being recovered, including the Naval sector. In 2013 the Russian Naval Forces got two ships of the 955th project of the Boreas class – Alexander Nevsky and Yuri Dolgoruky. And by the end of the year a nuclear submarine of the fourth generation called Severodvinsk of the 855th project of the Yasen class was constructed and sent for tests. In 2014 the Russian Naval Forces plan to involve about 40 combat ships and submarines.
The only enterprise which produces nuclear submarines in Russia is the Northern Machine-Building Enterprise in Severodvinsk. In the most difficult period – during Perestroika – it was headed by David Pashayev, who managed to preserve the technologies and the staff, despite all the troubles.
David Pashayev was born on July 19th, 1940, in the village of Ostashevo of the Volokolamsky district of the Moscow region. His father Gusein Pashayev was a livestock expert and agriculturist. Gusein Pashayev had four children; and he taught them diligence and responsibility. All of them got higher educations and became professionals. The eldest son graduated from the Gorky Institute of Technology and later headed the Design Center of the Baku Air-Conditioner Factory. Both of his daughters, Nina and Peri, became doctors, following a family tradition. The youngest son David entered the Ural Institute of Technology and became one of first graduates of the Energy Department with a new major – Designing and Exploitation of Nuclear Power Plants.
After graduation in 1963 David Pashayev was sent to Severmash, where he worked almost all his life. He travelled a long road from a common worker to Director. At the enterprise he not only won the love and respect of colleagues, felt the interests of the plant and the staff, but also studied the manufacturing process in detail. In June 1988 David Pashayev became the first elected Director General at the enterprise (previously Directors were appointed by the top management of the country) and he took the position for 16 years, till March 2004.
In 1992 Boris Yeltsin came to Sevmash in Severodvinsk. He was an alumni of the institute where Pashayev studied. As a result of the meeting between the President and the Director of the enterprise, it was decided to establish the State Russian Center for Nuclear Shipbuilding, which was later headed by David Pashayev. Sevmash got the exclusive right to produce nuclear submarines. However, material support continued to fall due to a reduction in state demand; moreover, there was a crisis of non-payment and good intentions were words only for a long time.
In the context of shifting to the market-based economy and the failure of the state demand’s financing, Pashayev faced a problem of preservation of scientific, technical and human resources at the enterprise. Even a timely close-down of the plant would lead to inconvertible losses. And the Director General had to search for ways of providing the enterprise with work beyond the state demand.
It was necessary to find solutions which would be interesting for market players. One such solution was the all-national program of constructing sea ice-resistant platforms and other technical crafts which were used for discovering oil and gas fields on the Arctic shelf. In a crisis time for the Russian economy Sevmash began construction of the sea ice-resistant stationary platform called Prirazlomnaya (1995-2010).
To save the military strategic enterprise, David Pashayev found an ingenious solution – work for the plant in the only sphere which was actively financed at the time – oil and gas production, an important source of revenues for the Russian budget. In 1992 Pashayev was elected an academician of the St. Petersburg Engineering Academy; in 1993 he was appointed the president of the State Russian Center for Nuclear Shipbuilding by the government of Russia.
In 1995 the President of Russia awarded Pashayev with Title of Hero of the Russian Federation and a special insignia – a Gold Star Medal for courage and heroism shown during execution of a special task. Moreover, Pashayev was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor (1974) and October Revolution (1984), jubilee medals, Diploma of the Government of the RF (2000) and Badge of the Order of Merit for Severodvinsk (2004).
David Pashayev died in April 6, 2010, and was buried in Severodvinsk. When David Pashayev was the head of Sevmash it was a time of decline and a new golden age of shipbuilding. He not only took part in construction of three generations of nuclear submarines, but literally he saved a unique, irreplaceable for Russia enterprise during Perestroika. He established a new industrial branch for construction of stationary sea ice-resistant platforms for exploration of Arctic sea shelfs. He was the only head of an industrial staff in modern Russia who was awarded Hero of the RF. The current recovery of the Russian military industry couldn’t be successful without David Pashayev’s efforts in the 1990s. He managed not only to preserve the level of production which was achieved earlier, but also provided conditions for a breakthrough. After his death the administration of Severodvinsk memorialized the hero, renaming Korabelov Square to David Pashayev Square.
