Ablazhey N. N., Kositsin M. A. Collective farms and land question: Land alienation and management in flood zones of the Ob and Irtysh hydroelectric power stations in the 1950s // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2025. V.10. №4. P. 116-134.

EDN: KGGDXK

Annotation

Based on the materials of the Irtysh and Ob hydroelectric power stations built in the 1950s, the article considers the key aspects of policies and practices of land alienation and compensation for collective farms during hydraulic construction: the regulatory framework of land alienation for state needs and its practice in relation to collective farms; mechanisms of interaction between authorities and departments of different levels on land issue in flood zones; organization and implementation of land alienation and management. The authors provide data on the volume of exemptions and compensations to collective farms in the zones of the Ust-Kamenogorsk, Novosibirsk and Bukhtarma hydroelectric power plants, the construction of which created artificial reservoirs of various volumes and sizes mainly in agricultural areas. The authors identify several land reconstruction scenarios, which usually implied complete or partial compensation at the expense of other categories of state lands. Although the objective of developing hydropower took precedence over agricultural goals, the state provided for a system of measures to maintain the viability of collective farms as the main agricultural producers in flood zones.

Keywords

Hydroelectric power stations, Ob, Irtysh, artificial reservoirs, collective farms, land use, land alienation, compensation, land management.  

About the authors

Natalia N. Ablazhey, DSc (History), Leading Researcher, Institute of History, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Nikolaeva St., 8, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia.
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Maxim A. Kositsin, Junior Researcher, Institute of History, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Nikolaeva St., 8, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia.
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