Resettlement from the Russian North: an analysis of state-induced relocation policy Arctic Centre Reports 55 Resettlement from the Russian North: an analysis of state-induced relocation policy ARCTIC CENTRE Elena Nuykina Edited and with a preface by Florian Stammler “This study brings the importance of the Arctic down to the lived experience of industrial city-dwellers with state policies beyond abstract climate change models and offshore resource games. Nuykina’s work is valuable not only for its policy analysis, but also for its focus on the consequences of resettlement poli- cies for residents and their responses. It is worth reading for all those interested in the study of population movement, Russian northern development and the anthropology of the state.” Florian Stammler, coordinator, Anthropology Research Team, Arctic Centre, University of Lapland “The northern regions of Russia are crucial for the country’s development and the right-sizing of the population in the north is an important element of north- ern development strategy. Elena Nuykina’s excellent study skillfully combines analysis of Russian government laws and policies of northern resettlement poli- cies with on-the-ground research of the implimentatuon and unintended conse- quences of those policies.” Timothy Heleniak, Department of Geography, University of Maryland Arctic Centre Reports 55 ISSN 1235-0583 ISBN 978-952-484-404-8 ISBN 978-952-484-444-4 (electronic version) 2011 Arctic Centre Reports 55 Resettlement from the Russian North: an analysis of state-induced relocation policy Elena Nuykina Guest edited and with a preface by Florian Stammler Sevenprint Rovaniemi 2011 Published in Finland by Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, Rovaniemi P.O. Box 122, FI-96101 Rovaniemi www.arcticcentre.org Information on this title and electronic version: www.arcticcentre.org/anthropology Printed by Sevenprint, 2011 © 2011 by Elena Nuykina & Anthropology Research Team, Arctic Centre, University of Lapland Nuykina, Elena Resettlement from the Russian North: an analysis of state-induced relocation policy. with summary text in Russian “Переселение из районов Российского Севера: анализ миграционных программ и их реализации” Guest editor: Florian Stammler Series editor: Jukka Jokimäki 78 pages; maps; illustrations; 21 x 25.5 cm includes bibliographical references (Arctic Centre Reports 55) internationally peer reviewed publication 1. Russian North. 2. Population movement. 3. Relocation. 4. Anthropology of the state. 5. Post- socialism. 6. Governance Front cover photo: A street in the town of Novy Urengoy, by Florian Stammler, 2007 Back cover photo: A family walks in the town of Nadym, by Alla Bolotova, 2008 ISSN 1235-0583 ISBN 978-952-484-444-4 (electronic version) ISBN 978-952-484-404-8 (paperback) Abstract sistance programs and their implementation results on the example of two northern regions, Murmansk Ob- During the 1930-1980s, the north-east territories were last and Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (district, one of the main priorities of Soviet state economic YNAO hereafter). policy. The strategy of northern development was built By looking at the tensions between policy-planning upon centralized redistribution of both human and fi- and policy-implementation, this study aims to find the nancial resources to the northern territories aiming at reasons for the unexpected outcomes which were not industrial development of the North and exploitation of initially considered in the programmes. Empirical find- mineral wealth such as oil, gas, coal, gold, etc., bearing ings from field research demonstrate the lack of feed- export revenues for the national budget. These objec- back mechanisms between programme-designers and tives were achieved by planned populating of the area, implementing institutions, and shed light on the tre- both voluntary and forced, and the creation of a state- mendous regional diversity within the Russian North, guaranteed system of northern benefits. As a result, which was not properly considered at the stage of pol- during a relatively short period of time, a large number icy planning. of people moved and settled in the North. This study therefore contributes from the ground to However, with the USSR’s disintegration, the govern- a refined understanding of - to say it in James Scott’s ment perspective on the North changed significantly. words (1998) - how certain measures, planned by cen- The introduction of market-based principles and neo- tral states to improve the well-being of the population liberal logic of economic functioning revealed that and provide continuous development, achieved the the economic, urban and demographic organisation of objective or failed. This refers particularly to the ap- the Russian North designed under the state-planning plicability of economic approaches to population dis- system did not suit market conditions. Following a tribution in the North, which was developed during the neo-liberal agenda, federal authorities intended to re- Soviet Union along political and social principles and organize the far northern frontiers and implement new was succeeded by the contemporary Russian state. patterns of population mobility and settlement of the North. Key words: Russian North, Soviet and post-Soviet This work studies the state’s approaches to northern northern development, resettlement, migration-assist- development, focusing on the (re)settlement issue in ance programmes, northern restructuring, viable com- particular, and evaluates how these approaches work munities, anthropology of the state, the World Bank in practice. It focuses on administrative migration as- Northern Restructuring Project. Table of contents Abstract . 3 List of figures and tables . .6 Preface . .7 Acknowledgements . 11 Introduction . 12 1 The role of the Russian state in northern resettlement policy . 16 1.1 Defining the Russian North . .16 1.2 State approaches towards Russian northern development . .17 1.2.1 Soviet development approach . .17 1.2.2 Russian development approach . .20 1.3 Different perspectives on why the northern population should be resettled . 21 1.4 Resettlement programmes . 22 2 Theoretical perspectives on state-induced relocation . .24 2.1 Anthropology of the state . 24 2.2 Neoliberal perspective . .25 2.3 Migration theories . 27 3 Northern resettlement programmes: from design to implementation . .30 3.1 General overview of resettlement programmes . .30 3.2 Target population . .32 3.3 Implementation arrangements . .34 3.3.1 Housing construction scheme . .34 3.3.2 Guarantee letter scheme . .36 3.3.3 Housing certificate scheme . .37 3.4 Programme governance . 40 3.5 Policy outcomes . .41 4 Implementation problems . .44 4.1 Programme underfunding . 44 4.2 Unequal distribution of programme budget . 46 4.3 Programme design imperfections . 47 4.4 Underestimated diversity of local conditions . .47 4.5 People’s responses to the programme . .48 4.5.1 Refusal to participate in the programme . .48 4.5.2 Local creative strategies . .48 5 Analyzing reasons of limited implementation results . .51 5.1 State-state dimension . 51 5.2 State-society dimension . 56 Conclusion . .60 Biography . .64 Annex I: Summary: Переселение из районов Российского Севера: анализ миграционных программ и их реализации. 70 Annex II: List of experts interviewed . .76 5 List of figures and tables Figure 1-1 Regions of the Russian Far North. Source Heleniak 2009a . 17 Figure 1-2 Soviet agitation posters . 18 Figure 3-1 Geographic dimension of the World Bank Northern Restructuring Project . 31 Figure 3-2 The official queue of citizens participating in the federal relocation programme in the town of Kovdor according to the priority categories, 2008 . 33 Figure 3-3 Resettlement procedure under the housing construction scheme . 35 Figure 3-4 Amount of housing subsidy . 37 Figure 3-5 Resettlement procedure under the guarantee letter scheme . 38 Figure 3-6 Resettlement procedure under the housing certificate scheme . 39 Figure 3-7 Administrative structure of the Federal Resettlement Programme . 40 Figure 3-8 Administrative structure of the World Bank Northern Restructuring Project . 41 Figure 4-1 Distribution of federal funding among five categories of programme participants . 46 Table 1-1 The dynamic of population growth in Murmansk Region, 1926-2008 . 19 Table 3-1 Rate of state housing subsidy depending on length of work (length of residence) . 36 Table 3-2 Number of citizens registered for receiving federal housing subsidies in all regions of the Russian Federation as of 01 January 2008 . 42 Table 4-1 Subsidizing of resettlement policy under the Federal Law 125-FZ, 1998-2010 . 44 Table 4-2 Amount of housing for northern resettlers, 1998-2008 . 45 6 Preface ideas of Soviet industrial development; but this should be seen as only one part of the state’s attempts to steer The steering of population distribution continues to be population movement in the North in general. Particu- one of the tools used by various states for what has lar categories of people are still attracted to move to the been probably the most massive development project North to work in industry, even though the extractive in the Arctic ever: the industrial exploration and open- industry increasingly relies on commute work (Eilm- ing up of the Eurasian North. From northern Norway steiner-Saxinger 2010). On the opposite end, this work all the way to the Bering Strait, this region is home to shows convincingly how there are immense gaps be- forty indigenous minorities for which living with their tween