Energy policy of the Soviet Union

Last updated

The energy policy of the Soviet Union was an important feature of the country's planned economy from the time of Lenin (head of government until 1924) onward. The Soviet Union was virtually self-sufficient in energy; major development of the energy sector started with Stalin's autarky policy [1] of the 1920s. During the country's 70 years of existence (1922–1991), it primarily secured economic growth based on large inputs of natural resources. But by the 1960s this method had become less efficient. In contrast to other nations who shared the same experience, technological innovation was not strong enough to replace the energy sector in importance.[ citation needed ]

Contents

During the later years of the Soviet Union, most notably during the Brezhnev stagnation era (c. 1975–1985), Soviet authorities exploited fuel resources from inhospitable areas, notably Siberia and the Far East. Construction of industry in these locations required massive input by the Soviet régime. Energy resources remained the backbone of the Soviet economy in the 1970s, as seen during the 1973 oil crisis, which put a premium on Soviet energy resources. High prices for energy resources in the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis led the Soviet authorities to engage more actively in foreign trade with first-world countries, particularly Europe (natural gas) and Japan (oil). In exchange for energy resources, the Soviet Union would receive first-world technological developments. So, despite its overall stagnation, the Soviet Union under Leonid Brezhnev (General Secretary from 1964 to 1982) moved from being an autarkic economy to a country trying to integrate into the world market.[ citation needed ]

During its existence, the Soviet Union, when compared to any other country, had the largest supply of untapped energy resources within its borders. [2] Total energy-production grew from 10.25 million barrels per day of oil equivalent (mbdoe) in 1960 to 27.58 million barrels per day of oil equivalent (mbdoe) in 1980. [3] Production and exports for the Soviet Union did not keep growing as Soviet planners anticipated. [2] During the late-1950s, mining activity shifted from European Russia to Eastern Russia for more mineable resources. [4] The increased distances between mines and coal-shipping ports decreased the efficiency of coal exports. [5] Furthermore, the USSR struggled to transport its Eastern resources to its Western side for later consumption and exportation. [2]

Policy used by the Soviet leadership to direct energy resources was vital to the military and economic success of the country. [6] Stagnation in Soviet energy production directly affected Eastern Europe's energy supplies. [3] The policy acted on in the USSR affected the Soviet satellite-nations and - to a lesser extent - the entire world. [3] The political maneuvers used by the USSR with regard to energy exports would come to be mirrored by the Russian Federation government to follow after 1991. [7]

A historical perspective

Under Lenin (1918-1923)

Within Gosplan, the Soviet Economic planning bureau, there were two divisions directly involved with this topic. One was focused on Electrification and Energy, GOELRO Another was focused on Fuels. The focus of the Soviets on energy and especially electrification in early years is often attributed to Lenin's famous line that "Communism is Soviet power plus electrification for the whole country.". [8]

Under Stalin before World War II (1924-1940)

Despite many of the targets being unbelievably high (a 250% increase in overall industrial development, with a 330% percent expansion in heavy industry), remarkable results were achieved:

During World War II (1941-1945)

By energy sector

Electricity

Map of transmission lines in the Caucasus region, 1951 Urals Area - Electric Power Centers and High Tension Transmission Network - 1951 - DPLA - 8e756f20669429490068d35626a3fbf5.jpg
Map of transmission lines in the Caucasus region, 1951

Electrification of the country was a focus of the Soviet Union's first economic plan (GOELRO plan).

Oil/petroleum

United States CIA map of pipeline infrastructure in the Soviet Union (1951) Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) Area Maps of Oil and Gas fields, Prospects, Structural Axes, and Petroleum Facilities -- 1951 - DPLA - bfbf332b09ce6186590cf6158a869bab.jpg
United States CIA map of pipeline infrastructure in the Soviet Union (1951)

Within the USSR State Planning Committee (Gosplan), there was a State Committee for the Oil Industry which handled this area of the economy.

Natural gas

A separate Soviet gas industry was created in 1943. Large natural gas reserves discovered in Siberia and the Ural and Volga regions in the 1970s and 1980s enabled the Soviet Union to become a major gas producer. Gas exploration, development, and distribution were centralized in the Ministry of Gas Industry, which was created in 1965.

See also Gazprom.

Hydroelectric

Stagnation of the USSR Energy Industry

From the early-1960s to the mid-1970s energy production, consumption, and net exports increased for the Soviet Union. [6] Growth in energy demand had reached a stable pace comparable to that of Western Nations of the time. [6] In the late-1970s, both coal and oil production began to stagnate. [3] This continued into the 1980s. [3]

The USSR also suffered from a lack of demand by Capitalist Nations and their previous colonial holdings in developing countries. [7] This dynamic changed upon the completion of the USSR natural gas pipeline from Western Siberia to Germany. [7] This created an efficient and effective route to transport liquefied natural gas (LNG). [7] Seeing the political influence that the Soviet Union would gain over Western Europe, President Reagan attempted to stop this project but failed. [7] Nevertheless, the overall growth rate of Soviet energy production and consumption steadily declined post-1975. [3] This difficulty came from the supply-side. [3]

Policy Guiding Industry

The Politburo, or main policy-making group in the Soviet Union, provided policy-makers a general outline to guide national policy. This group consisted of Top Soviet Leaders and was headed by the General Secretary. [3] This ‘big picture’ scope was then taken up by the Ministries and Committees involved in economic development and all the major industries within the USSR. [3] These groups worked with the enterprises that actually carried out the resource production in order to form operational goals for them. [2] This conversion from conceptual to exact directives was not always effective at providing the appropriate remedy when problems arose. [3]

A lot of the issues in stagnation began with faulty planning. [6] Policies that led to the large-scale implementation of techniques such a water-flooding reservoirs had initial benefits and were administratively efficient. [6] In the short-term, this approach was effective and increased recovery rates for USSR reservoirs above American reservoirs, but caused issues later in the life-cycle of the sites. [6] Since companies could not go bankrupt in the Soviet Communist system, subsidies and losses were covered by the state. [3] The lack of winners and losers amongst Soviet companies led to a pattern of USSR enterprises lacking innovation in drilling techniques. [7] This was effective on a domestic scale, but not when compared to the efficiency of international competitors. [7]

USSR Policy Guiding Russia

Both the USSR and Russia (under Vladimir Putin), have cancelled exports of energy supplies to buyers who have gone against national objectives. [7] In recent years, Putin has put forward diction on the dependability of Russian natural gas. [7] Nevertheless, Russia's power in the international arena correlates to the demand for the resources that it delivers. [7]

Much of the Russian economy went through uncertainty following the end of the Soviet Union. [7] This was not true for the Natural Gas Industry. The Ministry of the Gas Industry was converted into the company Gazprom in 1989 and Viktor Chernomyrdin, the former Minister, became CEO. [7] This political decision was not accepted easily. [7] The Natural Gas Ministry officials fought hard to get this movement approved whereas the Petroleum Ministry failed to stay intact post-1989. [7]

Russia has the largest production of natural gas in the world. [9] Oil production by Russia has increased dramatically, especially over the early-2000s. [9] This has led to a continued dependency on Russia for energy resources, by previous satellite countries. [10] About 80% of the natural gas that Russia exports to Western Europe goes through Ukraine territory. [10] This has incentivized Russia to continue Influencing the political agenda of Ukraine and other former USSR countries. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of Bulgaria</span>

The economy of Bulgaria functions on the principles of the free market, having a large private sector and a smaller public one. Bulgaria is a developing, industrialised high-income country according to the World Bank, and is a member of the European Union (EU), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC). The Bulgarian economy has experienced significant growth (538%), starting from $13.15 billion and reaching estimated gross domestic product (GDP) of $107 billion or $229 billion, GDP per capita of $36,000, average gross monthly salary of 2,310 leva, and average net monthly salary of $2,191. The national currency is the lev, pegged to the euro at 1.95583 leva for 1 euro. The lev is the strongest and most stable currency in Eastern Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of Burundi</span>

The economy of Burundi is $3.436 billion by gross domestic product as of 2018, being heavily dependent on agriculture, which accounts for 32.9% of gross domestic product as of 2008. Burundi itself is a landlocked country lacking resources, and with almost nonexistent industrialization. Agriculture supports more than 70% of the labor force, the majority of whom are subsistence farmers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of Kyrgyzstan</span>

The economy of Kyrgyzstan is heavily dependent on the agricultural sector. Cotton, tobacco, wool, and meat are the main agricultural products, although only tobacco and cotton are exported in any quantity. According to Healy Consultants, Kyrgyzstan's economy relies heavily on the strength of industrial exports, with plentiful reserves of gold, mercury and uranium. The economy also relies heavily on remittances from foreign workers. Following independence, Kyrgyzstan was progressive in carrying out market reforms, such as an improved regulatory system and land reform. In 1998, Kyrgyzstan was the first Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) country to be accepted into the World Trade Organization. Much of the government's stock in enterprises has been sold. Kyrgyzstan's economic performance has been hindered by widespread corruption, low foreign investment and general regional instability. Despite those issues, Kyrgyzstan is ranked 70th on the ease of doing business index.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of Russia</span>

The economy of Russia is an emerging and developing, high-income, industrialized, mixed market-oriented economy. It has the eleventh-largest economy in the world by nominal GDP and the fourth-largest economy by GDP (PPP). Due to a volatile currency exchange rate, its GDP measured in nominal terms fluctuates sharply. Russia was the last major economy to join the World Trade Organization (WTO), becoming a member in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of Tajikistan</span>

The economy of Tajikistan is dependent upon agriculture and services. Since independence, Tajikistan has gradually followed the path of transition economy, reforming its economic policies. With foreign revenue precariously dependent upon exports of cotton and aluminium, the economy is highly vulnerable to external shocks. Tajikistan's economy also incorporates a massive black market, primarily focused on the drug trade with Afghanistan. Heroin trafficking in Tajikistan is estimated to be equivalent to 30-50% of national GDP as of 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of Ukraine</span>

The economy of Ukraine is a developing, upper-middle income, mixed economy. It grew rapidly from 2000 until 2008 when the Great Recession began worldwide and reached Ukraine. The economy recovered in 2010 and continued improving until 2013. The Russian incursion in Ukraine caused a severe economic decline from 2014 to 2015, with the country's gross domestic product in 2015 barely surpassing half of what it was in 2013. In 2016, the economy again started to grow. By 2018, the Ukrainian economy was growing rapidly, and reached almost 80% of its size in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of Bolivia</span>

The economy of Bolivia is the 95th-largest in the world in nominal terms and the 87th-largest in purchasing power parity. Bolivia is classified by the World Bank to be a lower middle income country. With a Human Development Index of 0.703, it is ranked 114th. Driven largely by its natural resources, Bolivia has become a region leader in measures of economic growth, fiscal stability and foreign reserves, although it remains a historically poor country. The Bolivian economy has had a historic single-commodity focus. From silver to tin to coca, Bolivia has enjoyed only occasional periods of economic diversification. Political instability and difficult topography have constrained efforts to modernize the agricultural sector. Similarly, relatively low population growth coupled with low life expectancy has kept the labor supply in flux and prevented industries from flourishing. Rampant inflation and corruption previously created development challenges, but in the early twenty-first century the fundamentals of its economy showed unexpected improvement, leading Moody's Investors Service to upgrade Bolivia's economic rating in 2010 from B2 to B1. The mining industry, especially the extraction of natural gas and zinc, currently dominates Bolivia's export economy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Era of Stagnation</span> 1964–1985 period of the Soviet Union

The "Era of Stagnation" is a term coined by Mikhail Gorbachev in order to describe the negative way in which he viewed the economic, political, and social policies of the Soviet Union that began during the rule of Leonid Brezhnev (1964–1982) and continued under Yuri Andropov (1982–1984) and Konstantin Chernenko (1984–1985). It is sometimes called the "Brezhnevian Stagnation" in English.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foreign trade of the Soviet Union</span> Overview of foreign trade in the Soviet Union

Soviet foreign trade played only a minor role in the Soviet economy. In 1985, for example, exports and imports each accounted for only 4 percent of the Soviet gross national product. The Soviet Union maintained this low level because it could draw upon a large energy and raw material base, and because it historically had pursued a policy of self-sufficiency. Other foreign economic activity included economic aid programs, which primarily benefited the less developed Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) countries of Cuba, Mongolia, and Vietnam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Energy policy of Russia</span>

Russia's energy policy is presented in the government's Energy Strategy document, first approved in 2000, which sets out the government's policy to 2020. The Energy Strategy outlines several key priorities: increased energy efficiency, reducing the impact on the environment, sustainable development, energy development and technological development, as well as improved effectiveness and competitiveness. Russia's greenhouse gas emissions are large because of its energy policy. Russia is rich in natural energy resources and is one of the world's energy superpowers. Russia is the world's leading net energy exporter, and was a major supplier to the European Union until the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia has signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement. Numerous scholars posit that Russia uses its energy exports as a foreign policy instrument towards other countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petroleum industry in Russia</span> One of the largest in the world

The petroleum or oil industry in Russia is one of the largest in the world. Russia has the largest reserves and was the largest exporter of natural gas. It has the sixth largest oil reserves, and is one of the largest producers of oil. It is the fourth largest energy user.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Energy in Norway</span>

Norway is a large energy producer, and one of the world's largest exporters of oil. Most of the electricity in the country is produced by hydroelectricity. Norway is one of the leading countries in the electrification of its transport sector, with the largest fleet of electric vehicles per capita in the world.

Energy in Kazakhstan describes energy and electricity production, consumption and import in Kazakhstan and the politics of Kazakhstan related to energy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Energy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo</span>

The Democratic Republic of the Congo was a net energy exporter in 2008. Most energy was consumed domestically in 2008. According to the IEA statistics the energy export was in 2008 small and less than from the Republic of Congo. 2010 population figures were 3.8 million for the RC compared to CDR 67.8 Million.

Two-thirds of energy in Azerbaijan comes from fossil gas and almost a third from oil. Azerbaijan is a major producer of oil and gas, much of which is exported. Most electricity is generated by gas-fired power plants. Energy in the country is produced using all types of sources, including fuel, renewable energy, water energy, electrical and heat energy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transport in the Soviet Union</span> Overview of transport in USSR

Transport in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was an important part of the nation's economy. The economic centralisation of the late 1920s and 1930s led to the development of infrastructure at a massive scale and rapid pace. Before the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991, there were a wide variety of modes of transport by land, water and air. However, because of government policies before, during and after the Era of Stagnation, investments in transport were low. By the late 1970s and early 1980s Soviet economists were calling for the construction of more roads to alleviate some of the strain from the railways and to improve the state budget. The civil aviation industry, represented by Aeroflot, was the largest in the world, but inefficiencies plagued it until the USSR's collapse. The road network remained underdeveloped, and dirt roads were common outside major cities. At the same time, the attendance of the few roads they had were ill-equipped to handle this growing problem. By the late-1980s, after the death of Leonid Brezhnev, his successors tried, without success, to solve these problems. At the same time, the automobile industry was growing at a faster rate than the construction of new roads. By the mid-1970s, only 0.8 percent of the Soviet population owned a car.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electricity sector in Russia</span> Overview of the electricity sector in Russia

Russia is the fourth largest generator and consumer of electricity in the world. Its 440 power stations have a combined installed generation capacity of 220 GW.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of the Soviet Union</span>

The economy of the Soviet Union was based on state ownership of the means of production, collective farming, and industrial manufacturing. An administrative-command system managed a distinctive form of central planning. The Soviet economy was second only to the United States and was characterized by state control of investment, prices, a dependence on natural resources, lack of consumer goods, little foreign trade, public ownership of industrial assets, macroeconomic stability, low unemployment and high job security.

The economic history of Azerbaijan covers the development of the country's economy from its incorporation into the Russian empire at the beginning of the 19th Century, through the period of independence under the Democratic Republic (1918-1920), as part of the Soviet Union (1920-1991) and subsequent transition to the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The Falin-Kvitsinsky doctrine is a political doctrine formulated in the USSR. It assumes that in relation to the former Warsaw Pact countries, the military influence of the Soviet Union was to be replaced by the dependence of these countries on Russian gas and oil supplies.

References

  1. Laird, Robbin F. (1991). "The Evolution of Soviet Foreign Policy and the Future". In Fleron, Frederic J.; Hoffmann, Erik P.; Laird, Robbin F. (eds.). Soviet Foreign Policy 1917-1991: Classic and Contemporary Issues. Abingdon: Routledge (published 2017). p. 834. ISBN   9781351488594 . Retrieved 11 September 2019. The Stalinist model of economic and political development altered Soviet foreign policy as well. A new model of domestic development required the subordination of foreign policy to this model. Autarky or the closing off of the USSR from outside influences became the order of the day.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Sager, Matthew J.; Green, Milford B. (1986). The Transportation of Soviet Energy Resources. Totowa, N.J.: Rowman & Littlefield.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Hewett, Edward A. (1984). Energy, Economics, and Foreign Policy in the Soviet Union. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution.
  4. Hodgkins, Jordan Atwood (1975). Soviet Power: Energy Resources, Production and Potentials. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
  5. International Energy Agency., Energy Charter Secretariat, and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Russia Energy Survey 2002. Paris: OECD. 2002. p. 150.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Dienes, Leslie; Shabad, Theodore (1979). The Soviet Energy System: Resource Use and Policies. Washington D.C.: V. H. Winston.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Goldman, Marshall I. (2010). Petrostate: Putin, Power, and the New Russia. New York: Oxford University Press.
  8. "The Russian Power Revolution". January 2013.
  9. 1 2 Rutland, Peter (26 April 2017). "Russia as an Energy Superpower". New Political Economy. 13.2 (2008): 203–10.
  10. 1 2 3 Balmaceda, Margarita M (25 April 2017). "Energy Dependency, Politics and Corruption in the Former Soviet Union: Russia's Power, Oligarchs' Profits, and Ukraine's Missing Energy Policy, 1995-2006". Post-Soviet Affairs. 27.1 (2011): 93–95.