Ryzhkov on the role of historical education. State and party leader Nikolai Ryzhkov: biography, activities and interesting facts
A veteran of Soviet and Russian politics, former Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, who had a huge influence on the process of Perestroika in the second half of the 80s and the political events of 89-91.
Nikolai Ryzhkov is married to Lyudmila Ryzhkova, has a daughter and two grandchildren. Ryzhkov's son-in-law, Boris Gutin, is a former member of the Federation Council from the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.
Biography
Nikolai Ryzhkov was born on September 28, 1929 in the village of Dyleevka, Artemovsky district of the Ukrainian SSR in the family of a miner. In 1946-1950, Ryzhkov studied at the Kramatorsk Mechanical Engineering College, and in 1953-1959 - at the UPI named after S. M. Kirov.
After graduating from the Kramatorsk Mechanical Engineering College, Ryzhkov, at his own request, was sent to Sverdlovsk. From 1950 to 1975, Nikolai Ryzhkov worked in engineering and technical positions at the Ural Heavy Engineering Plant named after. Sergo Ordzhonikidze (PO "Uralmash"). From 1971 to 1975, he served as general director of the enterprise.
From 1975 to 1979, Ryzhkov served as First Deputy Minister of Heavy and Transport Engineering of the USSR.
In 1979-1982, Nikolai Ryzhkov was the first deputy chairman of the USSR State Planning Committee, after which he went to party work in the CPSU Central Committee and subsequently connected his career with politics. The transition to party work was the result of a positive attitude towards Ryzhkov on the part of Yuri Andropov.
In 1986, Ryzhkov made a significant contribution to the organization of work to eliminate the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Since 1991, after retiring, Ryzhkov worked as an expert at the Military-Industrial Investment Company, as well as chairman of the board of directors of Tveruniversalbank.
In 1993-1995, Ryzhkov headed the board of trustees of the Prokhorovskoe Field to create a memorial complex in the village of Prokhorovka in memory of the battles on the Kursk Bulge during the Great Patriotic War. The complex was opened on the day of the 50th anniversary of the Victory.
Since 1995, Ryzhkov has been president of the International Public Association "Eurasia", created to promote the integration of the countries of the former USSR.
In 1998, for his significant personal contribution to the organization of restoration work after the Spitak earthquake, a monument was erected to Nikolai Ryzhkov in the city of Spitak.
From 1998 to 2011, Ryzhkov headed the Coordination Council for Assistance to Domestic Producers (currently the Russian Union of Commodity Producers), uniting more than 130 industry unions and associations.
Nikolay Ryzhkov - Academician of the Engineering Academy of Russia, Academician of the Technological Academy of the Russian Federation, Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences, Full member of the International Academy of Management.
Ryzhkov is a two-time USSR State Prize Laureate, the author of six inventions in the field of welding and metallurgy, and was directly involved in the creation of unique machines in heavy engineering.
Policy
From November 1982 to October 1985, Nikolai Ryzhkov served as Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and headed the economic department of the CPSU Central Committee. Ryzhkov himself later recalled:
“In November 1982, completely unexpectedly, I was elected secretary of the Central Committee and Andropov introduced me to the team preparing the reforms. It included Gorbachev and Dolgikh. I don’t regret this work preparing the reforms. The situation was difficult, the crisis was ripe. We they began to understand the economy, and this is where perestroika began in 1985.”
From September 27, 1985 to December 26, 1990, Nikolai Ryzhkov was Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR.
In June 1987, Ryzhkov spoke at a session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR with a report on the restructuring of economic management in the next ten years, where for the first time significant differences in the understanding of socio-economic development among the country's leadership appeared.
In December 1990, Nikolai Ryzhkov suffered a massive heart attack and was dismissed by Gorbachev.
In 1991, Nikolai Ryzhkov, paired with Boris Gromov, ran for president of the RSFSR from the CPSU party; in the elections he received 16% of the votes, taking second place after Yeltsin, who was elected in the first round.
Ryzhkov later recalled:
“Why did I go to the polls? I wanted to use the last chance and once again try to convince the people: stop, what are you doing, don’t you see where they are dragging you with a lasso?”
In December 1995, Nikolai Ryzhkov was elected to the State Duma of the second convocation in the Belgorod single-mandate electoral district No. 62 from the “Power to the People” bloc.
In the State Duma, Ryzhkov became a member of the Committee on Conversion and High Technologies. He headed the parliamentary group "People's Power" and was the chairman of the Executive Committee of the People's Patriotic Union of Russia (NPSR).
In December 1999, Nikolai Ryzhkov was elected to the State Duma of the third convocation.
In September 2003, Ryzhkov was appointed representative of the administration of the Belgorod region in the Federation Council, and therefore resigned as a deputy of the State Duma. In the Federation Council, Ryzhkov headed the commission on natural monopolies, and became a member of the Committee on Local Self-Government.
Scandals
Back in 1985, Nikolai Ryzhkov objected to the appointment of Boris Yeltsin as first secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU.
In 1990, Anatoly Sobchak accused Nikolai Ryzhkov of condoning the creation of the ANT cooperative, whose employees tried to export 12 tanks abroad.
The cause of Ryzhkov’s heart attack in 1990 was accusations against the union government and the political struggle around the concepts of economic recovery of the country - “500 days”, which the radicals insisted on, on the one hand, and the government one, developed under the leadership of Nikolai Ryzhkov.
A professional in the field of public administration, Nikolai Ivanovich Ryzhkov is an active political figure whose working life was inextricably linked with solving public problems. Thanks to his extraordinary diplomatic abilities, he always successfully got out of conflict situations. The Soviet reformer was awarded for assistance in emergency situations, for his contribution to the development of industry and the country's legislation.
The beginning of your career
Nikolai Ryzhkov (09/28/1929) was born in Dyleevka, Donetsk region, Artemov district in Ukraine. The parents of the future politician belonged to the worker-peasant family. All the men in Nikolai’s family, including his younger brother Evgeniy, worked as miners and miners. In the post-war period, when the whole country was experiencing a terrible famine, the young man managed to enter the mechanical engineering college in Kramatorsk in 1946, located 70 km from the birthplace of Nikolai Ryzhkov. Classes were held in a dilapidated building, and students lived in the rooms of private homeowners, since the dormitories were destroyed.
The future party leader spent his years studying at a vocational school among former military personnel. They were an example for yesterday's schoolchildren. Students who returned from the war, with an age difference of 3-4 years from the younger generation, comprehended science, becoming specialists in mechanical engineering enterprises. Nikolai Ryzhkov, who initially dreamed of serving in the Air Force, was trained by front-line teachers, many of whom were mining specialists.
The activities of the educational institution where Nikolai Ryzhkov studied were based on the production facilities of a heavy engineering enterprise in Novo-Kramatorsk. The future politician was engaged in assembling overhead metallurgical cranes on the premises of the Sverdlovsk plant, popularly called the younger brother of the Uralmash plant, a mechanic's assistant. Having received a place in the distribution after technical school in 1950, Ryzhkov became a shift foreman at the Uralmash enterprise, a large enterprise in the USSR.
1 year after the start of his career, Nikolai was appointed flight leader. After 5 years, he takes the position of workshop manager. Since 1959, Ryzhkov has been the chief welding technologist at the plant named after. S. Ordzhonikidze. In the same year, he received a diploma of higher technical education after graduating from the UPI named after. CM. Kirov with a degree in Mechanical Engineer. This was Ryzhkov’s first leadership experience, in which he showed talent and extraordinary abilities in the field of production management.
Professional achievements and awards
A specialist in the field of organizing production activities in mechanical engineering, Ryzhkov always valued the opinion of ordinary workers. As chief technologist, he led a large-scale project to introduce a powerful block of welding joint shops into European mechanical engineering. He was awarded the USSR State Prize (1969, 1979) for the use of new principles of steel casting. Orders for professional achievements:
- Lenin - 1974, 1976
- Red Banner of Labor - 1966, 1979
- Patriotic War, 1st degree - 1985
- Fatherland - 2008
- Honor - 2013
- "For services to the Fatherland" IV and I degrees - 2004 and 2014
In 1965, the head of Uralmash, Nikolai Ryzhkov, managed to lead in the field of metallurgical production. He was appointed general director at the age of 40. Thanks to his fruitful work, the scientist became the author of:
- Patents for 6 inventions in the field of welding metallurgy.
- Projects for the creation of unique units in the field of heavy engineering.
- Monographs on 2 topics on welded structures.
- Articles in the field of economics, technology and management sciences.
Political career
In 1975, from the country's personnel reserve, the politician was approved for the post of First Deputy Minister in the field of heavy engineering, where he worked for about 4 years. Acted as Chairman of the State Plan of the USSR. Ryzhkov was elected secretary, he was the head of the economic department after his candidacy was included in the Central Committee with the support of Andropov. Nikolai Ivanovich could become Minister of Emergency Situations, since he never stood aside in the event of various accidents or conflicts in the social and political life of the USSR. He headed the headquarters associated with the liquidation of the consequences of the Chernobyl accident.
Ryzhkov was able to prevent the Fergana conflict caused by the Turkish-Uzbek confrontation. The statesman participated in the housing development program, initiated the closure of the project associated with the turn of northern rivers to the south, and developed an anti-alcohol campaign. He took part in the election campaign for the post of President of the Russian Federation, but the victory remained with Yeltsin.
Private life of politics
Building a career over the course of 25 years from the beginning of his career did not prevent the future prominent politician from creating a strong and friendly family. Ryzhkov met his future wife at the Uralmash plant, where she held the position of designer. Lyudmila and Nikolai had a daughter, Marina, who, after graduating from the law institute in the city of Sverdlovsk, became the wife of a fellow university student, Gutin Boris. At first, Marina’s husband worked as an official of the State Customs Committee. In 2000, he became a representative of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.
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The politician's grandchildren - Marina's son and daughter - received higher education. Having become a certified specialist in the field of medicine, granddaughter Lyudmila married the ex-mayor of the city of Tver Vladimir Babichev. Grandson Nikolai became a captain after graduating from the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and then devoted his career to business.
Nikolai Ryzhkov spends most of his working time at various meetings and writes scientific articles. In 2016, the annual Creation Prize of Nikolai Ivanovich Ryzhkov was approved. This award is awarded to scientists conducting scientific activities in the field of technology, construction, and nature conservation. The award is given to social workers.
Nikolai Ryzhkov is married to Lyudmila Ryzhkova, has a daughter and two grandchildren. Ryzhkov's son-in-law, Boris Gutin, is a former member of the Federation Council from the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.
Biography
Nikolai Ryzhkov was born on September 28, 1929 in the village of Dyleevka, Artemovsky district of the Ukrainian SSR in the family of a miner. In 1946-1950, Ryzhkov studied at the Kramatorsk Mechanical Engineering College, and in 1953-1959 - at the UPI named after S. M. Kirov.
After graduating from the Kramatorsk Mechanical Engineering College, Ryzhkov, at his own request, was sent to Sverdlovsk. From 1950 to 1975, Nikolai Ryzhkov worked in engineering and technical positions at the Ural Heavy Engineering Plant named after. Sergo Ordzhonikidze (PO "Uralmash"). From 1971 to 1975, he served as general director of the enterprise.
From 1975 to 1979, Ryzhkov served as First Deputy Minister of Heavy and Transport Engineering of the USSR.
In 1979-1982, Nikolai Ryzhkov was the first deputy chairman of the USSR State Planning Committee, after which he went to party work in the CPSU Central Committee and subsequently connected his career with politics. The transition to party work was the result of a positive attitude towards Ryzhkov on the part of Yuri Andropov.
In 1986, Ryzhkov made a significant contribution to the organization of work to eliminate the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Since 1991, after retiring, Ryzhkov worked as an expert at the Military-Industrial Investment Company, as well as chairman of the board of directors of Tveruniversalbank.
In 1993-1995, Ryzhkov headed the board of trustees of the Prokhorovskoe Field to create a memorial complex in the village of Prokhorovka in memory of the battles on the Kursk Bulge during the Great Patriotic War. The complex was opened on the day of the 50th anniversary of the Victory.
Since 1995, Ryzhkov has been president of the International Public Association "Eurasia", created to promote the integration of the countries of the former USSR.
In 1998, for his significant personal contribution to the organization of restoration work after the Spitak earthquake, a monument was erected to Nikolai Ryzhkov in the city of Spitak.
From 1998 to 2011, Ryzhkov headed the Coordination Council for Assistance to Domestic Producers (currently the Russian Union of Commodity Producers), uniting more than 130 industry unions and associations.
Nikolay Ryzhkov - Academician of the Engineering Academy of Russia, Academician of the Technological Academy of the Russian Federation, Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences, Full member of the International Academy of Management.
Ryzhkov is a two-time USSR State Prize Laureate, the author of six inventions in the field of welding and metallurgy, and was directly involved in the creation of unique machines in heavy engineering.
Policy
From November 1982 to October 1985, Nikolai Ryzhkov served as Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and headed the economic department of the CPSU Central Committee. Ryzhkov himself later recalled:
“In November 1982, completely unexpectedly, I was elected secretary of the Central Committee and Andropov introduced me to the team preparing the reforms. It included Gorbachev and Dolgikh. I don’t regret this work preparing the reforms. The situation was difficult, the crisis was ripe. We they began to understand the economy, and this is where perestroika began in 1985.”
From September 27, 1985 to December 26, 1990, Nikolai Ryzhkov was Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR.
In June 1987, Ryzhkov spoke at a session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR with a report on the restructuring of economic management in the next ten years, where for the first time significant differences in the understanding of socio-economic development among the country's leadership appeared.
In December 1990, Nikolai Ryzhkov suffered a massive heart attack and was dismissed by Gorbachev.
In 1991, Nikolai Ryzhkov, paired with Boris Gromov, ran for president of the RSFSR from the CPSU party; in the elections he received 16% of the votes, taking second place after Yeltsin, who was elected in the first round.
Ryzhkov later recalled:
“Why did I go to the polls? I wanted to use the last chance and once again try to convince the people: stop, what are you doing, don’t you see where they are dragging you with a lasso?”
In December 1995, Nikolai Ryzhkov was elected to the State Duma of the second convocation in the Belgorod single-mandate electoral district No. 62 from the “Power to the People” bloc.
In the State Duma, Ryzhkov became a member of the Committee on Conversion and High Technologies. He headed the parliamentary group "People's Power" and was the chairman of the Executive Committee of the People's Patriotic Union of Russia (NPSR).
In December 1999, Nikolai Ryzhkov was elected to the State Duma of the third convocation.
In September 2003, Ryzhkov was appointed representative of the administration of the Belgorod region in the Federation Council, and therefore resigned as a deputy of the State Duma. In the Federation Council, Ryzhkov headed the commission on natural monopolies, and became a member of the Committee on Local Self-Government.
Scandals
Back in 1985, Nikolai Ryzhkov objected to the appointment of Boris Yeltsin as first secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU.
In 1990, Anatoly Sobchak accused Nikolai Ryzhkov of condoning the creation of the ANT cooperative, whose employees tried to export 12 tanks abroad.
The cause of Ryzhkov’s heart attack in 1990 was accusations against the union government and the political struggle around the concepts of economic recovery of the country - “500 days”, which the radicals insisted on, on the one hand, and the government one, developed under the leadership of Nikolai Ryzhkov.
Studying the lives of many politicians, one can sometimes conclude that in order to become a real professional in the field of government, it is not enough to just be a competent specialist. Definitely, to be effective in your detail in the entrusted field, you also need to be a truly extraordinary person. Nikolai Ivanovich Ryzhkov is precisely such a Man with a capital P, whose biography will be discussed in this article.
Birth
The future outstanding politician of our country was born into the family of a miner on September 28, 1929. This happened in a village called Dyleevka (Donetsk region, Ukraine). Our hero's father's name was Ivan Fedorovich, and his mother's name was Alexandra Pavlovna. It goes without saying that the guy’s worker-peasant origins did not bode well for him with great prospects in later life, but fate wanted to make him a very influential person.
Early life and education
Ryzhkov Nikolai had a very difficult childhood, since during this period the country was just beginning to move away from the colossal and tragic consequences of the destructive Great Patriotic War. Of course, this state of affairs forced the guy to grow up very quickly and make his choice professionally. And so the young man entered the Kramatorsk Mechanical Engineering College at the Faculty of Mechanics. Then from 1953 to 1959. Ryzhkov Nikolay studied at the Ural Polytechnic Institute named after Kirov, from which he successfully graduated with a degree in technology and equipment for welding production.
Worker's career
In 1950, a young guy begins his career. He goes to work at the Ural Machine-Building Plant. He worked at this enterprise until 1975 and was able to go through all levels of the hierarchy. So, he managed to visit:
- Shift foreman (1950-1951)
- Head of the flight (1951-1955).
- Head of the workshop (1955-1959).
- Chief technologist for welding works (1959-1965).
- General Director of the production association (1970-1975).
Let us note that the man was appointed to the highest post at the plant, which at that time had all-Union significance, at the age of forty. And this testifies to his very strong character and truly extraordinary abilities as a leader.
Projects
Nikolai Ryzhkov, when he was the manager of Uralmash, showed his subordinates how efficient and responsible he was. In addition, he turned out to be a real ace in welding and even wrote two monographs and a certain number of scientific articles on this topic. Such achievements did not go unnoticed by the country's leadership, and Ryzhkov was twice awarded the State Prize.
Transition to the position of a high-ranking official
After some time, Nikolai Ryzhkov, whose biography includes many interesting facts, was enrolled in the state personnel reserve. And I must say that he did not have to stay in reserve for long. Already in 1975, he was approved for the post of First Deputy Minister of Transport and Heavy Engineering. And after another 4 years, he finally found himself in the post of first assistant to the Chairman of the State Plan of the USSR. As a statesman, Nikolai Ryzhkov was characterized by particular adherence to principles in resolving key issues, the ability to think big and keep up with technological progress.
Work in the CPSU Central Committee
Here we should make a small digression: back in 1956, our hero joined the ranks of the Communist Party, which was then a prerequisite for all those specialists who planned to occupy leadership positions in the future. And in 1981, Nikolai Ryzhkov made another career transition - he was elected as a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. And in the period from November 22 to October 15, 1985, he was the Secretary of this main organization in the country. In parallel with this, he was also the head of the Economic Department of the CPSU Central Committee. Also for five years he was a member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee.
The politician himself says that he ended up in such high positions thanks to Yuri Andropov’s very good personal attitude towards him. Immediately after entering the political elite, Ryzhkov began to delve into the situation in the country and propose reforms in order to correct the difficult economic situation in the state.
Nikolai Ivanovich accepted the beginning of Gorbachev’s reign with joy, because he believed that this person had the ability to reform a decaying power. In 1985, Nikolai Ryzhkov was a government figure of the highest rank, because he was entrusted with the post of Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, which automatically made him the second person in the country. As Prime Minister, he was able to make a huge contribution to minimizing the consequences of the Chernobyl accident and the earthquake in Spitak. It was Ryzhkov who was involved in developing the economic restructuring program. For this, he suffered from liberals who accused him of indecision, and communists who believed that Nicholas had become a traitor and moved away from the ideals of communism. As a result, in December 1985, the politician literally suffered a heart attack, and therefore he was forced to retire.
New era
But many were mistaken in thinking that Nikolai Ryzhkov had finally left politics. In 1991, he decided to run for the presidency of Russia and only slightly lost to Yeltsin. And in 1995 he entered the State Duma, where he could subsequently serve for three convocations. In 2003 he joined the Federation Council. There he deals with issues of natural monopolies. Fully supports the policies of Vladimir Putin.
Personal life
Despite the fact that Nikolai Ryzhkov is the chairman of many government agencies, both in the past and present, he is still the same person as the rest of us. This can be judged by his affections. So, he really likes to communicate with people, write articles, read domestic and foreign literature, listen to music, watch good films. Nikolai Ivanovich has been living with his wife for many years. In 1956, their daughter Marina was born, who subsequently gave her parents two grandchildren.
On May 24, 1990, during a live broadcast from the session hall of the Supreme Council, he stated that the cost of bread and other food products was unjustifiably low and should be higher, which led to huge panic in the consumer environment.
In December 1991, he was one of the initiators of an appeal to the President of the USSR, which spoke of a ban on the dissolution of the state in Belovezhskaya Pushcha.
On the first day of March 2014, during a meeting of the Federation Council, he voted positively for issuing permission for President Putin to send troops into Ukraine if necessary. Ryzhkov has an extremely negative attitude towards Maidan itself, believing that this riot brought nationalists to power in the republic. And within two weeks, Nikolai Ivanovich was included in the sanctions list of the European Union.
During his life, Ryzhkov managed to visit not only the political and industrial environment, but also worked as the head of the board of directors of Tveruniversalbank.
The now deceased oppositionist Boris Nemtsov considered Nikolai Ivanovich Ryzhkov an excellent leader of any enterprise, but an extremely disgusting and useless prime minister.
Our hero has many state awards, and is also an honorary resident of several cities.
Nikolai Ryzhkov, who replaced Nikolai Tikhonov, was remembered by his contemporaries as a crying Bolshevik. About how the sensitive prime minister managed to lead the government, a Vlast observer Evgeniy Zhirnov said the former manager of the Council of Ministers of the USSR Mikhail Smirtyukov.
— How did Ryzhkov’s appointment as chairman of the government happen?
— In September 1985, a few days before Nikolai Aleksandrovich Tikhonov’s resignation from the post of prime minister, I visited Gorbachev: many unresolved “political and domestic” issues had accumulated - the allocation of dachas, the size of pensions for some leaders released from work, etc. Tikhonov spent a long time was ill, and when he came to the Kremlin, realizing that he would soon be “left,” he did not want to make decisions on these sensitive issues. He returned the papers to me and said: “Decide as you know.” How to decide, especially when they ask for something that is not supposed to? For example, at that time “Seagulls” were not sold to anyone. As official cars, they were used only by ministers and secretaries of the Central Committee. And I had a statement from Chingiz Aitmatov, who was then an ardent supporter of Gorbachev. He asked to be allowed to buy the Chaika, since he spends a lot of time on the road, explaining to the people the party's accelerated course, and hardly sees his family. And, they say, his family could travel with him in such a roomy car. Gorbachev looked at this statement, grinned and said: “Throw it in the trash!” Then he approved the pension issues and asked: “Well, do you think it’s difficult for Nikolai Alexandrovich to work?” I answered honestly that it was difficult. “I think so too,” says Gorbachev. “I believe that he is an honest person, but he cannot cope with such health in the new conditions. I talked to him about this topic. He needs to retire.” Then he paused and asked: “Well, who should take his place?” “Yes, you’ve already identified,” I say, “probably Mikhail Sergeevich,” “Yes, of course, of course. And yet?” Before I could open my mouth, he said: “So I think it’s Ryzhkov.” “And you,” says Gorbachev, “go, Misha, work and help Ryzhkov.”
— Why did Gorbachev choose him?
— There were only one or two candidates: Dolgikh and Ryzhkov. Both in the past managed major enterprises. Dolgikh - Norilsk Mining and Metallurgical Combine, Ryzhkov - Uralmash. But by that time Dolgikh had been the secretary of the regional committee and the Central Committee for more than fifteen years, had authority in the party apparatus and, having received the post of prime minister, could eventually become a competitor to Gorbachev. And Ryzhkov in those years was a less famous politician. He did not make bright speeches, he did not prepare global projects similar to Gorbachev’s “Food Program”. There was no noticeable desire in him then to stand out. In addition, Ryzhkov is a rather soft and pliable person. I observed this at the commission to improve the work of the management apparatus. The head of the commission was Tikhonov, who could be quite harsh at times. When Nikolai Alexandrovich posed a question point blank, Ryzhkov agreed with him. Immediately, another member of the commission, Gorbachev, resorted to his favorite method of smoothing the corners: “But maybe this is how we should proceed now? This question, comrades, can be considered separately, not here and not now. Let’s see, let’s see what happens, but "We'll see. Let's put this question aside." Ryzhkov was one of the first to support him. And then the Secretary General considered him a knowledgeable economist. Probably because he himself was well versed mainly in resort and agriculture. But in reality, Ryzhkov did not have enough training and experience to work as prime minister.
- But he was a deputy minister, first deputy chairman of the State Planning Committee, and secretary of the Central Committee.
“He somehow galloped through these posts.” Kosygin, before heading the government, worked in it for twenty-five years, Tikhonov for thirty. And Ryzhkov? Four years in the Ministry of Heavy and Transport Engineering, three in the State Planning Committee, three in the Central Committee. In the government, it turns out, seven years, and all in the position of deputy. And service in the Central Committee in terms of management practice in many cases only spoiled a person. I discouraged myself from taking on any responsibility. If you receive a reasonable proposal, be sure to write your objections. What happened, you warned, you were on alert. And instead of concrete work on Old Square, they were most often busy with an empty talking shop. I often had to visit them at various meetings and commissions. Preparations for them took months, reports were verified and agreed upon down to the last comma. Then they listened to each other and did not make any decisions. And then they walked around and admired: “Oh, how well the meeting was held!”
“But it is unlikely that Ryzhkov, in just three years of work in the Central Committee, could have become an ardent supporter of these orders.
“I also wanted to believe in it.” A day after our conversation with Gorbachev, we met in Ryzhkov’s office on Old Square. He accepted me as a person with whom he had been friends for a hundred years. After his official appointment, he did not change the existing structure and system of government work. He listened to the specialists, although it was felt that he was doing this reluctantly. In general, Ryzhkov’s mood was not the best due to problems with the budget. The Ministry of Finance then cited calculations of huge budget losses from the decline in alcohol sales. And Ryzhkov tried to reduce the scale and slow down the pace of the anti-alcohol campaign. He submitted his proposals to the Politburo, and it was decided that the reduction in alcohol production would occur gradually - over five years. But Solomentsev and Ligachev intervened in the matter, fighting for sobriety with all their might. Yegor Kuzmich summoned the Central Committee secretariat and scolded the leaders of the regions where, in his opinion, alcohol consumption was not being reduced quickly enough. He believed that all the country’s troubles were due to drunkenness, and that was all. And the chairman of the party control committee, Solomentsev, called the regional committee secretaries who were delaying cutting down the vineyards, and threatened with all possible party punishments. As I was told then, the doctors forbade him to drink, and he apparently decided that the whole country should join him. So the two of them blew up the budget. And Ryzhkov realized that on his own, without regard to the Central Committee, he, in fact, could only manage the apparatus of the Council of Ministers.
“You,” he says, “are building a reception house not far from Barvikha. So Lyudmila Sergeevna began to come there every week. She walks around the construction site with her dog. The workers grin at her.”
— Did he change somehow after that?
- Became vulnerable and touchy. For example, a very qualified lawyer Yakovlev worked for us. And Ryzhkov began to hint to me that he needed to find another job. It turned out that the prime minister did not like the expression on Yakovlev’s face. “He looks,” he says, “at me and grins all the time.” He managed to convince the prime minister that the man was seriously wounded at the front, and the grin was the result of an unsuccessful operation in a field hospital. Then it began to seem to him that the employees of the apparatus, to whom he turned for help and advice when he worked in the ministry and the State Planning Committee, were lecturing him. I tried to explain to him that they were just expressing their opinion. And that they also worked with Tikhonov and Kosygin. But here my convictions did not work: Ryzhkov began to ignore these comrades and their proposals. Following this, he began to complain that he had found himself in a “muddy routine backwater,” and first of all, he decided to change the system for preparing government regulations. In our country, all decisions were prepared not by the government apparatus, but by the department that was supposed to carry them out. Based on your capabilities. And the Council of Ministers' assistants ensured that these possibilities were not underestimated and helped coordinate the project with other interested ministries. Then the legal department and a group of philologists-proofreaders dealt with the text of the projects. Ryzhkov decided to do everything as in the Central Committee. For example, to prepare a draft decision on supplying Moscow with vegetables, a group of several dozen experts was created, led by the Prime Minister’s assistant Sovakov. Together with stenographers and typists, they went to the government sanatorium "Sosny" near Moscow. For two months they worked there so hard that someone even managed to get a divorce and marry a stenographer. The finished document began to be coordinated with the Moscow City Council. And they received an answer from there that the capital did not need this project in this form.
- And what did Ryzhkov do?
— Apparently, he decided that this was the machinations of the device, and began to change its structure and composition. I copied almost exactly the staffing table of the Central Committee. And I started working on solution projects myself. Selected words, placed commas.
- But this should have taken a lot of time?
“And he came early in the morning and worked until late.” And soon I found out why he was in no hurry to go home. The head of the 9th Directorate of the KGB (government security) Plekhanov called me and asked for advice. “We need,” he says, “to change Nikolai Ivanovich’s security chief. I talk to him, he agrees, but he comes home, calls back and asks to wait with this. And this has happened twice already.” “Why,” I ask, “is it necessary to change the boss? He looks like a good guy.” “He’s not bad,” says Plekhanov. “But he fell under the thumb of Nikolai Ivanovich’s wife, Lyudmila Sergeevna. And now he’s not so much involved in protecting the prime minister as he is carrying out her instructions. A person with a strong character needs to be placed there.” Well, of course, I didn’t get involved in these matters. Then they report to me that when preparing Ryzhkov’s foreign visit, his wife asked her to organize everything “like Raisa Maksimovna.” There was no need to intervene again. Someone reported this request to the Central Committee. From there they called the economic department of the Council of Ministers, which was preparing the visit, and said: “There is only one “first lady” in the country. Is that clear?”
— Did Lyudmila Ryzhkova try to interfere in big politics, imitating Raisa Maksimovna?
— Ryzhkov himself did not interfere in big politics. He strictly followed Gorbachev's footsteps. Therefore, Lyudmila Sergeevna could not, like Raisa Maksimovna, participate in the preparation of reports at congresses, keynote speeches, etc. And she focused on economic issues. I started with the dacha. After his appointment as prime minister, Ryzhkov was given a dacha where Molotov once lived, then Khrushchev, and after him Podgorny. The dacha is decent, and the plot is huge - about 30 hectares. Before he moved in, it was renovated and furnished with new furniture. Suddenly, during one of our conversations, Ryzhkov reported that he was talking about his dacha with Gorbachev. “I told the general that the dacha is small and there is no swimming pool, although I am entitled to it. I say that I want to build a modest, but new one. And Gorbachev replied: “That’s right.” I tell him: “Nikolai Ivanovich, why spend a lot of money building it? Grishin is about to vacate the dacha. It has a swimming pool. We’ll repair it and live.” He didn't answer. After some time, the deputy head of the 9th Directorate of the KGB, Klen, calls me. And this one is about Ryzhkov’s wife. “You,” he says, “are building a reception house not far from Barvikha. So Lyudmila Sergeevna began to come there every week. She walks around the construction site with her dog. The workers scoff. It’s inconvenient. I should tell Nikolai Ivanovich about this somehow.” I was surprised. We agreed with Ryzhkov to build a mansion there to receive foreign delegations. What does his wife have to do with it? They report to me that she indicates how to arrange the rooms and so on. I ask Ryzhkov. He hesitates: “Well, we decided to make this house a country dacha for the Council of Ministers.” Who are we? Here's a new, but modest dacha for you. They furnished it too. But he lived on it for only a week and a half. There was a fuss in the newspapers, and the Ryzhkovs quickly moved out.
“In general, Ryzhkov’s mood was not the best due to problems with the budget. The Ministry of Finance then cited calculations of huge budget losses from the decrease in alcohol sales.”
— Since the beginning of glasnost, there have been many such scandals surrounding Ryzhkov’s name.
- That's for sure. There was a scandal with the attempt to privatize the dacha, already the third one, the same Grishinsky one, which was finally renovated for him. Then with the construction of an elite residential building in the very center of Moscow, where Ryzhkov, his daughter’s family and some close associates settled. There could be much more scandals if journalists could see some government orders. Some cooperatives were granted unimaginable rights; huge quantities of imported radios and bras were purchased for the Council of Ministers. Moreover, all these papers, in violation of the established order, passed by the department of affairs, past me. Then, as the newspapers wrote, with the consent of the Foreign Economic Commission of the Council of Ministers, the notorious ANT was formed, which was supposed to exchange our tanks abroad for Western consumer goods. In a word, the government turned into some kind of stock exchange. All this commerce was led by Alexander Sterligov, appointed at the insistence of Lyudmila Sergeevna as head of the economic department of the Council of Ministers. I resisted his appearance in the government as much as I could, and then I gave up. I was already very old. In 1989, before the first Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, together with the entire government, I resigned. Then he worked for almost another year as an adviser to the new business manager. Overall, he has been in the government and the Kremlin for sixty years. How much longer could you work?
— The strongest, of course, was Kosygin. Then Molotov, Stalin, Malenkov, Tikhonov, Bulganin, Khrushchev, Ryzhkov.
— By placing Ryzhkov last, did you go too far?
— You know, when he was away from Gorbachev and his wife, it turned out that he was an excellent manager. In Armenia, for example, after the earthquake, Ryzhkov quickly and clearly organized rescue and restoration work. He would make an excellent Minister for Emergency Situations. But in my memory, there was no weaker prime minister in the Soviet Union than Ryzhkov.
- Drying organic liquids Wine spirit and its relatives
- Laboratory work: Production of methane and experiments with it Calcium carbide was used to dehydrate ethanol
- Model of error in the form of a random elementary function Mathematical model of measurement results of measurement error
- Questions for subject and object Basic geometric shapes