In the New Year night of 1944 when officers having left the headquarters of the division headed for trenches to congratulate soldiers on the coming year - the year of Victory, Boris Nikolayevich Chirkov, colonel of the People's Commissariat of Home Affairs (PCHA-narkomat) was notified that he was to go to Moscow, to the Kremlin. As B. N Chirkov recollects, accepting him to the issue of the appointment I. V. Stalin formulated precisely an exclusive importance of the assignment: "Americans rely on our having an atomic bomb in about 10-15 years, proceeding from this assumption they build up their strategy. Now they have a tiny quantum of these bombs, several ones only, but when they arm their AF with them they will wish to dictate us their own terms. They need about five years for it. We ought to have an atomic bomb of our own just to this time. Comrade Kurchatov assured us that provided there is uranium this period is quite real. For scientists, engineers and for You, comrade Chirkov, this task by its tension and responsibility will be equal to the efforts of the war -time. You will be rendered any assistance possible, you will be entitled to great powers. Your outfit wont's sustain any lacks"…
On May 15, 1945 the State Defence Committee of the USSR adopted the Enactment on launching combine #6 (later on it will be Leninabad mining-chemical combine, now it is the State enterprise "Oriental Combine of Rare Metals" ("Vostokredmet"), supersecret, security-restricted plant on extraction and processing of uranium ore on the base of Central Asia deposits. It was the first home outfit on raw stuffs extraction for atomic industry.
In order to erect a combine one needed manpower, electric power and technique. As it multiple big construction-sites these problems were solved by means of the sorrowfully notorious system of GULAG. Taking advantage of the wretched plight of the repressed Soviet people the authorities made them build a checking-sifting camp (CSC) where they placed almost 5000 Soviet soldiers and officers liberated from the German captivity and the citizens who had found themselves under the occupation of Germany. A little bit later there arrived the trainloads with Soviet Germans from Komi autonomous republic to there they had been deported from the Volga region. But one must do credit to the leaders of the construction under whose guidance this outfit more humanely than it was done in other camps. It's not occasional that many pioneers of the construction remained to live and work in Chkalovsk.
The combine was ceded Adrasman, Mailisoo, Uigur, Tuyya-Muyun mines and Taboshar one in addition from which in 1944-1945 uranium ore was carried to processing along mountainous paths on camels and donkeys. The assignment moved by Stalin was being implemented with hard work. When the construction of the combine started 18 thousand tons of uranium ore had been already extracted and processed into 7 tons of uranium. The latter, in its turn, had to be processed further and very urgently into the bargain. So the necessity sprang up to accelerate the tempos of the erection of a hydro-metallurgic plant. For these purposes the government allotted 12 million to combine #6 in Leninabad for capital construction and only for the period of the 1-st quarter of 1946, meanwhile combine #813 in Middle Ural was meted out 5 million rubles.
At the same time 70 kilometers for to the north of Chelyabinsk they started to dig foundation area under the first industrial reactor. Concurrently the jobs on the preparation for testing the first nuclear weapon were carried out. But the available concentrated uranium was not sufficient.
- To that time the Soviet experts together with German scientist,- tells the chief engineer of "Vostokredmet" SE, cavalier of "Sharaf" (honor) order E. G. Gusakov who took part in the elaboration of the joint Soviet-German outfit "Vismut", - got down to intensified work on the territories liberated from fascists; their target being elicitation of new deposits and enhancement of uranium-containing ore extraction. Their participation in tapping uranium reserves and extraction in Germany - where once there worked the legendary director of the combine, Hero of Socialist Labor V. Ya. Oplanchuk and with those whose name the regeneration of the very enterprise and the modern town of Chkalovsk are associated - became a factor of no small importance in the accelerated preparation for testing the first atomic explosion…
Here, on the wasteland near Leninabad where only awkward premises of the plant and working shops were seen, only a limited circle of people perceived subconsciously their being privy to the great event. And at the dawn of August 29, 1949 the Soviet Union made the world comprehend that since that time it will speak with America on a par.
The raw stuff base of the firstling of the country's atomic industry began to be expanding with years - ore governance offices of newly-tapped deposits were formed in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan where Chkalovsk specialists gave a new birth to settlements and towns. The extracted ore was dispatched to Tojikiston. The ways of extraction and processing were being steadily improved. Concurrently the infrastructure of the combine was being developed. On the base of the working shops employed with repairs Chkalovsk machine-building plant (Ch MBP) was created, it manufactured and repaired mining and technology equipment. The structure of the combine included auto transport and auto repairing outfits, huge storage with railway entrances, enterprises of communication and power supply; there being no analogies in the atomic industry of the USSR. The fine town grew in the steppe together with the combine.
Nobody could ever suppose that in some decades the thriving combine-and the town too - being envied by residents of many industrial centers of the country would have found themselves in such a deplorable state.
After the collapse of the USSR the combine began to sustain grave difficulties. The economy crisis caused decline of production. Productive ties existing for many years were broken, there followed the exodus of highly qualified specialists. One had to begin everything anew. The question lay in the problem of hot to survive under the "wild" market conditions. One had to urgently reconstruct everything. But how could the so-called secret regime enterprise manage it? A part of uranium capacities was respecialized for an output of new sorts of produce. They launched a new modern production for an affinage of gold and silver extracted in Tojikiston, created a jewellery factory. And Ch MBP known in the world reoriented on a local consumer. All this gave an opportunity to the enterprise to stabilize its position. And gradual upsurge started: annual accretion to 1997 constituted 3-7%.
But the reader shouldn't imagine a deceptive picture that with the disintegration of the Union all specialists at a running deserted Chkalovsk having collided with the first economy hardships. Genuine patriots - experts faithful to their cause preferred to live and work in their beloved town in spite of meagre salary. These are they whom the country should be grateful immensely that the flag outfit of defence industry proceeds functioning. Today "Vostokredmet" SE is an outfit of multiple aspects, here they have regulated assemblage of computers and telephone apparatuses, production of incubators and plastic wares for domestic needs. By the way, it is a distinctive feature of engineers, technologists, foremen, workers; all of them being in constant quest, inventing something. Here, in laboratories and workshops, where once unique details and designs for famous Semipalatinsk proving ground and uranium processing outfits of the USSR had been worked out, the adjusted the output of water heating kettles for domestic needs surpassing by far well-known "Aristons" by their parameters. It was here that the idea was born to produce silicate glue, emery paper, original heaters with the use of local marble being greatly quoted by ancient Greeks.
How does the enterprise, which gave birth to the town live today?
"At the present time the outfit produces pentoxide of vanadium out of non-traditional sorts of raw stuffs, decorative slabs and other wares out of natural stones, consigns to affinage gold and silver extracted in Tojikiston; it has launched technology lines on turning out highly pure manganese concentrate and refining tungsten- containing concentrated product (sheelite) from noxious mixture with simultaneous concentration done in addition, -says the general director of "Vostokredmet" SE Zafar Roziqov. - We have mastered an output of spare parts for the needs of melioration. There has been an experience in producing mini-HESs in cooperation with Russian outfits. Under the circumstances of tough competition Chkalovsk bus plant "Khujand- ZIL" mastered manufacturing of new models of two-doors-vehicles with a diesel engine for passenger conveyance. We started doing capital repairs of trolley-buses".
Though the batches of uranium containing raw stuffs coming from Kazakhstan are proceeded from time to time the capacities still are standing idle. "The vulnerable spot of the enterprise is absence of the raw stuffs of its own for the great bulk of the produce manufactured-, says the chief of the productive technical section (PTS) of the enterprise Alexander Botov. - The amount and volume of orders for processing the imported raw stuffs depend on market conjuncture. The enterprise itself in unable to influence the market. In this situation the only way of attracting clients is high quality and low prices. But it doesn't help always either. For example, the jewellery plant produces things out of gold and silver whose standard corresponds to international norms. But the market is overfilled with cheap low standard wares from Asian countries. And subsequently due to low purchasing power of population our plant sustains great problems with realization. Jewellery costing over 100 thousand USA dollars has been hoarded in the storage of the combine. The second problem is a financial one, - Yury Alexandrovich continues. - The combine works under the conditions of constant deficiency of turnover resources. Daily the most complicated question is solved - where to send Tajik somoni, Russian rouble and American dollar which entered the account - for wages payment, raw stuffs purchase or tax clearance. As for development of production, preparation for new kinds of produce to be put out very few wherewithals are left. It's hardly imaginable to lay accounts with production growth without investments or long term privileged credits. And there are a lot of items money may be deposited into".
The market dictates its terms. It can't help telling upon population's subsistence level which depends directly on the defence enterprise functioning. Privatization is gradually encroaching upon the interests of this unique town-combine. Being unable to provide the viability of numerous subdivisions it confronts a complicated option - either to stick further on to the platform of state plan relations hopelessly waiting for state injections or to make a decisive step towards a very responsible move, that of shareholding. Every factory being included into "Vostokredmet" SE composition can't exist self-sufficiently, though the degree of dependence on one another is not big. They have no juridical status of their own, they have no availability to accumulate turnover resources by themselves, they can't plan their profits. And as the employees of "Vostokredmet" believe themselves, on the contrary, namely common turnover resources enable to withstand adversities. This question is disputable. Moreover, the internal system of planning, labour organization and self-accounting basis of production at the enterprise - once being famous all over the Soviet Union - contradict the laws of market economy. On the other hand, there are sectors at the combine which ring losses but their liquidation will entail indispensable reduction of working places being undesirable for "Vostokredmet" leadership.
Analysts assert that in the nearest perspective the priority importance in the field of power supply will befall atomic electrostations. The construction of large-scale - HESs is very expensive; into the bargain, fertile lands are submerged. Heat and power plants intensify hothouse effect, burn unresumable resources. Tide, wind and other exotic power installations don't solve the problem. Thereupon, the number of AESs will be growing constantly; respectively, the demand for natural uranium being the basic raw stuff for the elements exuding therms will be growing as well.
Many uranium deposits in the world are exhausted, the cost of extraction is constantly increasing. Only Australian and Kazakh uraniums will be highly profitable. "Kazatomprom" national company will be one of the leading purveyors of uranium protoxide-oxide in the nearest 5-10 years as it owns one third of the world uranium stocks, herewith the majority of deposits are suitable for economically efficacious and ecologically pure method of subterranean lixiviation. There exists the Russian-Kazakh-Tajik agreement on joint practical mastering of these deposits, but implementation is moving slowly - there being lack of resources. There are big potentialities of cooperation in other fields of production as well. For example, stone processing production, output of highly qualitative ferrovanadium and vanadium-aluminum ligature, elaboration of new technologies of extracting non-ferrous and precious metals from ores and concentrates.
It's no secret that for the last time great interest in "Vostokredmet" SE is displayed by a number of firms from Austria, the USA, Great Britain which evaluated highly its technical state and potentialities. But they don't hasten to realize joint projects. We deem that they prick up their ears because of the social climate in neighboring Afghanistan, complicacy of transit transportation of separate types of freights through Uzbekistan.
The experts hoping up to the very last moment for a rebirth of the defence industry of Tojikiston and relying on a change of the situation are sure that investments will have come and implementation of the projects in question will have brought stable profits.