“ZOLOTOE KOLTSO” NEWSPAPER WROTE A REVIEW ON THE BOOK ABOUT MIKHAIL SAPRYKIN

JOURNALIST PAVEL NIKITIN WROTE A BOOK ABOUT MIKHAIL SAPRYKIN   

            In addition to previous two books (“Kremlin Consiracy”, 1993) (“GKChP”. 73 hours that changed the world» 2011г.) ”Ogonek” Magazine and other awards winner, Pavel Nikitin introduced a new one. This time a book came from his pen in memory of the former director of “Lakokraska” Mikhail, named “It’s hard to be brave” – it has been published by Yaroslavl State Technical University Press.

            A work that supposed to solve particular problems resulted to be topical and bold by form, and by content as well. It tells us about how did the economic reforms implemented in Post-Soviet Russia, and its disastrous consequences. Journalist refers to numbers that clearly demonstrate the disaster in domestic painting industry, demonstrating it as an example of mostly high technology economic sector of Russia.

The book begins with very optimistic view on the upcoming reforms, when the companies obtained the freedom of establishment, still without realizing that they have been chosen to be sacrificed to make Russia definitely a raw-material-producing empire. Blind, naive, and ignorant faith on the regulative power of market economy led to a dramatic breakdown of domestic processing industry.  Фе the beginning of the narration, author recites the talk of three company directors from Yaroslavl - SK,  Fuel Injection Equipment, and “Lakokraska”.  Yaroslavl manufacturers’ Guru, Hero of Socialist Labour, recipient of USSR State Prize, Lev Sokolov says cheerily to the doirectors: директорам: «Don't get rattled, mugs! Different things used to happen – we shall get through!»

“And yes we got through, but not everybody,-  writes Nikitin. – To date, we no more have neither the Yaroslavl Rubber Fabric – a pioneer of domestic petrochemicals, nor Yaroslavl Fuel Injection Equipment Plant – a leader of domestic automobile industry. The engineering buildings of SK were old by auctions. Now different companies reside there, bearing no relation to rubber industry. Yaroslavl Diesel Fuel Systems Enterprise is even more misfortuned: it is gone without a trace. All of its engineering buildings were totally demolished by dozers. A residential complex is now staying at this place – high-rise buildings with underground garages for the future homes and café owners. But “Lakokraska” stays on its feet, not in that excellent state though. Beaten, broken apart, but still breathing and working for the country…”

In the authors’s opinion, paints and varnishes industry could be saved thanks to a dramatic and intrepid steps in decentralization taken by Saprykin. Nikitin values this tactic as one of the most talented management decision to solve the debt crisis in Russian industry, which happened in the years of the reforms.

Analyzing the disastrous impact of the reforms, director of “Volzhskie kraski” (“Volga Paints”) Galina Shikhmareva, exclaims from the book’s pages: “Did those ones from “up there” seriously believed that these painting industry giants born in Soviet centrally planned economy, such as Yaroslavskiy Pigment, could survive in market struggle against western petrochemical conglomerates without government subsidies? Who, and why, during a whole decade of reforms were impeding so aggressively to the the implementation of financial benefits system for domestic industry? And who was this lucid-mind who carried the idea to increase the custom dues for foreign raw materials for painting production, having previously destroyed the domestic production of them? I only see this as a well-aimed destruction”.

 «Hard times have come to the paint producers, - concludes Pavel Nikitin.- Only new industrial politics can change the current situation in this important sphere. The previous politics, that led to complete de-industrialization and left behind industrial landscapes like in Yaroslavl, across all Russia, and the ruble as a classic commodity currency, and the economics that doesn’t have other growth factors but oil, must remain on the sidelines of history. But we don't use to make things fast, we all witnessed how the strategic interests of our country were sacrificed to the instant profit. Today nobody can say when the former facilities of “Lakokraska” and other petrochemical and chemistry industry enterprises would unite in cooperation with flexible cooperation system, opening new horizons to increase the efficiency and competiveness, and would it ever happen”.

The book is is hardly charged by memories of former Yaroslavl Obkom secretary Igor Tolstoukhov, former Yaroslavl Oblispolkom Chairman Vladimir Kovalev, director of ZAO NPK YarLI Vladimir Manerov, advocate Artem Ivanchev, Doctor of Juridical Science, and other known people.

Today «ZK» publishes an interview that the author included harmonically to the book, with a big manufacturer of Yaroslavl, group “Spektr” owner, Yakov Yakushev.

 «Zolotoe Koltso» Newspaper. 25.01.16.