By Vestnik Kavkaza. Materials of Gazprom were used
This year the prominent Baku native, scientist Sabit Orudzhev would have celebrated his 100th birthday. He was the minister of gas industry of the USSR in 1972-1981. His ministry raised the USSR gas production to a record level – 800 billion cubic meters annually. This record wasn’t beaten yet, and Orudzhayev remained the only man in the world who headed a ministry which produced so much gas. Vestnik Kavkaza publishes a series of memories of Orudzhev’s colleagues about him and his reforms.
After graduating Azerbaijani Industrial University as a mining engineer – oil field man, Sabit Orudzhev worked in Ordzhonikidzeneft Group since 1936, then in Azneftcombinat, Azneft, Glavzapadneftedobycha, and Krasnodarneft. In 1949 he was proposed a position of the head of Glavmorneft where Orudzhev dealt with issues of sea oil production. Innovative ideas by Orudzhev were thought to make a breakthrough in the sphere – new principles and methods began to be used, the modern techniques were implemented. In 1955 Sabit Orudzhev became the deputy minister of oil industry of the USSR. But in two years the ministry was dissolved and Orudzhev returned to Baku.
Pasha Arushanov, the former head of the department in the Head Office of International Contacts under the Ministry of Oil Industry
In the 1950s Azerbaijan got more than a half of the produced oil from sea deposits, first of all from Neftyanye Kamni. In 1957 there was a fantastic storm – a height of waves was about 11 meters. Water washed away a platform where a brigade of the pioneer of the deposit, Kaverochkin, drilled a well. In the morning a governmental committee headed by Orudzhev was sent to Neftyanye Kamni. I was included into the committee.
There were no helicopters flying to sea coasts, and we used a big ship which couldn’t go alongside to a moorage. We had to sit to a motor boat in the open sea. The wave was of 5-meter height. Mr. Orudzhev was the first to jump. Other members of the committee followed him. It was always like this: he was a leader if the team by his behavior.
The new stage was working in Moscow in the USSR Council of Ministers. He was the deputy chairman of the State Committee on Chemical and Oil Industry, the deputy chairman of the State Committee on Oil Producing Industry, and in 1956 the first deputy minister of oil producing industry of the USSR.
Faizula Gainullin, the former deputy minister of gas industry of the USSR
At that time the Tatar ASSR took first place in production of oil, and accompanying gases were recycled in the Minnibayevsky GPZ. The index of utilization of accompanying gas was about 95% of a potential – this material enabled construction of such giants of oil-chemical industry as Nizhnekamsk Oil Plant and Kazan Plant of Confined Synthesis. Orudzhev contributed to it a lot. Sabit Atayevich treated carefully recruitment of employees. He taught us rational selection and preliminary testing. Nobody could take this or that position by accident.
In 1979 I and my wife rested with Orudzhen and his wife in Varna. He invited me to fishing. A Bulgarian Jasha was responsible for fishing, and all fishers from the governmental health resort knew him and greeted him as a friend. However, only Orudzhev paid attention to this common person and invited him to Moscow, helped him with documents. Jasha often visited Orudzhev in the capital.
Few months before his death friends wished to him to live till 100 referring to good health of his father, but Orudzhev knew about his disease and answered: “Thank you, but you shouldn’t forget that my father was not a minister.”
To be continued
