The basis of the Company's personnel potential is highly qualified, diversified professionals, former military civil engineers of the Red Banner Military Construction Administration of the city of Moscow.
The history of the Ukrainian Armed Forces of Moscow (VSUM) begins in 1938. Its activities were aimed at the construction and reconstruction of special and civil facilities.
During its existence, Vsumov residents built and commissioned 2,700 residential buildings, 68 schools, 95 children’s preschool institutions, 79 shopping centers, 680 medical, preventive and sanatorium complexes and many other facilities. Among them: buildings of Star City and the Arkhangelskoye sanatorium, the Central Theater and the Museum of the Russian Army, complexes of buildings of the Ministry of Defense on Arbat and the Academy General Staff in Troparevo, sanatoriums "Crimea" and "Yuzhny" in Foros, multi-sports facilities of CSKA on Leningradsky Prospekt and VMF in Khimki.
In 1978, for selfless work and high production results of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Moscow was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. More than 3,680 military personnel and civilian specialists were awarded orders and medals, 87 Vsumovites became Honored Builders Russian Federation, 22 people are laureates of State Prizes and Prizes of the Council of Ministers of the USSR.
In 1998, by Decree of the President of Russia, the Armed Forces of Ukraine of Moscow was transformed into the Open Joint Stock Company “VSUM”.
The team of OJSC "VSUM" commissioned new buildings of the military hospital named after N.N. Burdenko in Lefortovo and the aviation hospital in Sokolniki. Clinics, schools, and kindergartens were built in Zhulebino, Butovo, Medvedkovo, Nikulino, and on Khodynskoye Field. The buildings of the Main Military Prosecutor's Office and the Academy were reconstructed chemical protection, architectural monuments of the 18th century: the Airborne Forces barracks with a soldiers' canteen in Sokolniki and the Children's Treatment Center on Komsomolsky Prospekt.
A number of facilities, including the Pharmacological Center of the State Military Clinical Hospital named after N.N. Burdenko, 526 apartment residential building in the microdistrict. 5 “D” Zhulebino, a clinic for 750 visits per shift in South Butovo, were awarded Diplomas from the Moscow Government Competition “For the best implemented project of the year in the field of investment and construction.”
From 1999 to 2005, the Social Protection Fund for the Company's Employees successfully operated at OJSC “VSUM”.
In 2010, at the initiative of the leadership of the Capital Investment Company, in order to assist in increasing the social and material security of veterans of the Armed Forces of Moscow, the activities of the charitable Fund for the Social Protection of Veterans of the Military Construction Administration of the city of Moscow were revived.
Military Construction Order of the Red Banner of Labor Moscow City Administration:
(historical reference)
The Military Construction Directorate of the City of Moscow (Moscow Armed Forces) was established by the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR in 1938 for the construction of special facilities, cultural, social, medical, educational and residential buildings and structures in Moscow and the Moscow region.
Less than 3 years before the start of the Great Patriotic War, the team of the Armed Forces of Ukraine of the mountains. Dozens of residential buildings were built in Moscow, whole line objects for industrial, household and special purposes. Among them are the majestic buildings of the Frunze Military Academy, educational and residential complexes of the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy, Military Engineering Academy named after Kuibyshev. On Commune Square (now Suvorovskaya) the star-shaped structure of the Central Theater of the Red Army rushed upward. In a unique corner of the Moscow region, Arkhangelsk, the former estate of the Yusupov princes, a military sanatorium has been put into operation. In different areas of the capital, residential buildings rose above the asphalt surface of highways and squares on Taganka, Smolenskaya Square, Leningradsky Prospekt, B. Dorogomilovskaya and Sadovo-Chernogryazskaya streets, in Koptevo, Pokrovsky-Streshnevo. Administrative buildings stood on the embankments of the Moscow River. Residential areas appeared in Solnechnogorsk, Monino, and other areas of the Moscow region.
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the personnel of the Armed Forces of Moscow took an active part in the construction defensive structures on the distant and near approaches to the capital. Anti-tank ditches and rubble, artillery pillboxes, bunkers, command posts and shelters were built, educational institutions and school buildings were converted into hospitals.
In October 1941 most of The Ukrainian Armed Forces of Moscow are evacuating to the city of Gorky, where military builders continued to work for the defense of the country.
Returning from evacuation to Moscow in 1943, the personnel of the Directorate were actively involved in the restoration of war-damaged buildings and structures, in the construction of new residential buildings, schools, shops, hospitals, kindergartens and nurseries, and military facilities.
By 1946, several large military construction organizations became part of the Armed Forces of Moscow, which made it possible to significantly increase the volume of construction and expand its geography. IN short time Entire residential areas were put into operation on Khoroshevskoye Highway, Oktyabrsky Pole, Garden Ring, in Tushino, Kuntsevo, Izmailovo, Noginsk, Vatutinki. The Vsumov workers received an “excellent” rating for completing a large amount of work on the restoration and reconstruction of buildings and structures of the Arkhangelskoye palace complex-museum. Here, on 17 hectares of land, the Central Military Clinical Hospital named after Vishnevsky was put into operation.
Military builders of the Armed Forces of Moscow showed high skill during the construction of a sanatorium in Pushkino, a boarding house on the Klyazmenskoye reservoir, buildings of the Zavidovo and Barsuki hunting farms, and a number of other objects of the Administration of Higher Affairs government agencies countries.
The construction of Star City, Central Museum Armed Forces and the Grekov Studio of Military Artists, Sheremetyevo Airport, VDNKh and Moscow State University buildings on the Lenin Hills, the Institute military history and hotels of the Ministry of Defense, unique sports facilities of CSKA, Navy, Olympic facilities - 80 in Moscow, sanatorium complexes "Crimea", "Yuzhny" in Foros, buildings of military hospitals named after Burdenko, Mandryk, buildings of the Ministry of Defense on Arbat, Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces in Troparevo, the Main Headquarters of the Air Force, Navy, ShOVS, VIMO, and other special-purpose facilities.
In the labor collectives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Moscow, they were born and received further development there are many on construction sites around the country best practices labor and production technology. Thus, the military builders of VSUM initiated the development and implementation of large-panel housing construction, for which a group of engineers and workers were awarded government awards and State Prizes of the USSR. Among them are engineers V.A. Shumkov, A.P. Makarov, K.I. Bashlay, workers A.E. Sorokin, G.Zh. Polivoda.
In the 50s, for the first time in the country, military builders of the VSUM erected an efficient frameless structure, used hollow-core reinforced concrete slabs in construction, and introduced masonry buildings from brick blocks. Vsumov workers were the first among the military builders of the Ministry of Defense to switch to brigade contracting using the N. Zlobin method. Foreman of the integrated self-supporting brigade 149 UPR of the Armed Forces of Ukraine of Moscow Savotikov I.V. was awarded the title of Hero Socialist Labor.
In the 80-90s, VSUM personnel initiated the use of Karmizol roofing material on construction sites, a mechanized complex for installing self-leveling screeds under floors, mortar-free technology for facing walls with stone, and other progressive technologies and labor methods.
At all stages of the activities of the Armed Forces of Moscow, a special role belongs to its leaders. Among them:
Lieutenant Colonel, then Major General Alexander Gavrilovich Karaoglanov, led the VSUM for more than 6 years, Honored Builder of the Russian Federation, later Hero of Socialist Labor, Colonel General;
Colonel Stern Miron Lazarevich, Honored Builder of the Russian Federation, subsequently Head of the Main Directorate of the Construction Industry, Lieutenant General;
Colonel Popov Nikolai Mikhailovich, Honored Builder of the Russian Federation, subsequently Deputy Head of Construction and Cantonment of Troops of the Ministry of Defense, Hero of Socialist Labor, Colonel General;
Colonel Dvorkin Zinoviy Yakovlevich, Honored Builder of the Russian Federation, later Deputy Commander of the Belarusian Military District, Lieutenant General;
Major General Alexander Ivanovich Romashko, led VSUM for 12 years, Honored Builder of the Russian Federation, holder of two Orders of the Red Banner of Labor;
Major General Nikolai Grigorievich Gaponenko, 8 years Head of the Department, Honored Builder of the Russian Federation, Honorary Builder of the City of Moscow, Knight of the Order of the Patriotic War 1st and 2nd degree, Red Star, Red Banner of Labor, laureate of the USSR Council of Ministers Prize;
Major General Shesterov Yuri Sergeevich, led VSUM for 5 years, Honored Builder of the Russian Federation, holder of the Order of Honor, For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces, laureate of the USSR Council of Ministers Prize;
Colonel Shevchenko Mikhail Antonovich, Honored Builder of the Russian Federation, Knight of the Order of the Red Star;
Colonel Kurdov Sergey Petrovich, Honored Builder of the Russian Federation, holder of the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, Honor, laureate of the USSR Council of Ministers Prize;
Major General Pylin Vyacheslav Ivanovich, 7 years head of the VSUM, Honored Builder of the Russian Federation, holder of the Order of the Red Star, For military merit, Friendship of peoples, For service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces;
Colonel Levkin Sergey Ivanovich, Honorary Builder of the Russian Federation, Honorary Builder of the City of Moscow, Knight of the Order of Honor.
In general, over the past years, the team of the Military Construction Department of the city of Moscow, in which different years included more than 450 construction, installation and specialized organizations, military construction battalions and units, uniting several tens of thousands of people, built 2,700 residential buildings, 68 schools, 95 kindergartens and nurseries, 79 shops, 680 medical and preventive, sanatorium complexes and other special purpose structures.
In 1972, for achieving high results in construction and in connection with the 50th anniversary of the formation of the USSR, the Armed Forces of Ukraine of Moscow was awarded the Anniversary Badge of Honor.
In 1978, for the successful completion of tasks for the construction of defense and cultural facilities and in connection with the 40th anniversary, the Armed Forces of Moscow was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.
Over 53 post-war years At the end of the year, the staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine of Moscow was awarded 37 times with the Challenge Red Banners of the Ministry of Defense and the Central Committee of the trade union of the industry, the Central Committee of the CPSU, the Council of Ministers of the USSR, the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions and the Central Committee of the Komsomol, four of which were transferred to the All-Union Ukrainian Young Communist League forever and are stored in the Fund.
The Yuzhny sanatorium complex in Crimea was awarded the USSR State Prize.
Prizes from the Council of Ministers of the USSR were awarded to the Navy sports complex in Khimki, the CSKA football and athletics complex, and the hydro laboratory in Star City.
67 VSUM employees are Honored Builders of the Russian Federation, 11 people are Honorary Builders of the City of Moscow, 12 people are laureates of the State Prize of the USSR, 10 people are laureates of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. 3,810 military personnel and civilian specialists were awarded orders and medals of the Motherland, 2 people were awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor, 1 person became a full holder of the Order of Labor Glory of three degrees.
In accordance with Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of May 25, 1998 No. 588, the Military Construction Department of the City of Moscow was transformed into the Open Joint Stock Company “VSUM”.
The team of the Joint Stock Company commissioned new buildings of the Central Aviation Hospital in Sokolniki, State Military Clinical Hospital named after Burdenko. Its Complex of pharmacological center and laboratory and medical building, with an area of over 12 thousand square meters, awarded the Diploma of the Moscow Government Competition “Best Implemented Project of 2001”.
The complexes of buildings of the Main Military Prosecutor's Office, the Military Academy of Chemical Defense, and the Research Center 20 TsPI of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation were reconstructed. Among the transformed buildings are architectural monuments of the 18th century: the Airborne Forces barracks with a soldiers’ canteen in Sokolniki and the children’s department of the Diagnostic and Treatment Center on Komsomolsky Prospekt.
Kindergartens were commissioned in the microdistricts of Zhulebino, Yuzhnoye and Severnoye Butovo, Volkhonka-Zil, Lyublino, Khodynskoye Pole; Bauman Moscow State Technical University canteen; school block primary classes in Zhulebino; school in Ulansky Lane; a polyclinic for 750 visits per shift in South Butovo, awarded by the Moscow Government with a Diploma of the competition “Best Implemented Project of 2003”.
In 1999, at the expense of employees of the Joint Stock Company, the Social Protection Fund for Employees of OJSC “VSUM” was created, which successfully operated until 2005.
In 2010, on the initiative of the management of the Capital Investment Company, the activities of the Social Protection Fund for Veterans of the Military Construction Administration of the City of Moscow were revived.
The VSUM Veterans Fund is a non-governmental non-profit organization with no membership.
As a legal entity, it has a seal, emblem and other details of a legal entity.
In its activities, the Foundation is guided by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the Federal Law “On Non-Profit Organizations” and the Charter.
The objectives of the Foundation are:
Assistance in increasing the social security of VSUM veterans and members of their families;
Assistance in providing financial assistance and ensuring the necessary standard of living and social services in cases of long-term disability of veterans of the organization.
Veterans of VSUM are persons who worked in the Armed Forces of Moscow and OJSC “VSUM” before 01/01/2005 and have worked in the organization for at least 15 years.
The main objectives of the Foundation are:
Issuing loans to VSUM veterans to solve social problems;
Providing financial assistance to veterans of the organization during burial, loss of property as a result natural Disasters and other similar reasons, for treatment and in other exceptional cases;
Creation and maintenance of a database of VSUM veterans and all categories of payers and recipients of financial assistance;
Organization and holding of seminars, exhibitions and other events, including those dedicated to memorable dates in the history of the Military Construction Directorate of Moscow, events that had a significant impact on the activities and development of the organization.
Bodies of the Foundation:
The highest governing body is the General Meeting.
The permanent governing body is the Management Board.
Executive and administrative body – Chairman.
Supervisory body – Board of Trustees.
Control and audit body – Audit Commission.
The general meeting is convened as necessary, but at least once a year. An extraordinary general meeting may be convened by decision of the Management Board, Chairman, Audit Commission, or on the recommendation of Board of Trustees. The decision is made by a simple majority of votes of those present.
The Board manages the activities of the Fund during the period between General Meetings. Elected General meeting for a period of three years. It is convened as necessary, but at least once a quarter. Board members:
1. Kasparov V.A.
2. Shender A.G.
3. Puchek I.N.
The Chairman heads the Board and organizes its work. Elected from among the members of the Management Board for a term of three years.
Chairman of the Board of the Foundation is Vitaly Andreevich Kasparov.
The Board of Trustees is formed by the Board of Trustees through personal appointments to oversee its activities from among persons making property contributions and donations on an ongoing basis or in large amounts, as well as politicians, cultural figures, artists, famous people countries.
Good creations, good deeds, support for one's neighbor and compassion have been a feature of the Slavic character since ancient times.
The beginning of charitable activities in Russia is considered to be 988, the date of the baptism of Rus'. Love for one's neighbor found its expression in the distribution of alms to those in need. Under Yaroslav the Wise, free provision of medical care at monasteries. During the reign of Ivan the Terrible, a census of the needy was carried out, almshouses were created in cities with the allocation of state funds for their maintenance.
Since the 18th century, laws on donations for the benefit of the poor have appeared. Special charitable institutions began to be built. Few people know today that, for example, the building of the Military Academy missile forces on the embankment of the Moscow River was originally an educational home for foundlings, created at the expense of the miner P. Demidov. The Sklifosovsky Institute of Emergency Medicine is the hospice home of Count Sheremetyev.
Modern Krasnaya Presnya is a factory settlement of the Prokhorov manufactory, Trekhgorka, created with charitable funds from the manufacturer Prokhorov.
During the Great Patriotic War, more than 200 million rubles of public funds were collected for the defense of the country. People donated not only money and jewelry, but also clothes and shoes.
IN modern Russia charity has been actively developing since the beginning of the 90s. Charitable funds were created to support the families of dead and wounded military personnel, war veterans, assistance to orphanages, etc. At the end of 2005 Russian companies annually spent up to 11% of net profit on charity, many had their own charitable budget.
Today's global crisis has negatively affected all areas of economic and social life. Unemployment is growing, the level of real incomes of people is decreasing, especially single-parent families, single mothers, and pensioners. Many veterans of the Moscow Armed Forces of Ukraine, who gave 20-30-40 years of their lives to their native Armed Forces of Ukraine, now find themselves in a difficult life situation.
In these conditions, as once before, the importance of such qualities of people as human memory, conscience and kindness increases.
Comrades, friends!
We call on VSUM residents, those who remember the unforgettable days and nights of the working days of the military construction projects of the Red Banner VSUM, who strengthened our character, taught us to be resistant to difficulties and in today’s difficult times to show their Vsumov brotherhood, spiritual impulse and sympathy, comradely mutual assistance and assistance in charity !
We call on our youth to show in this their active life position, their filial example of human mercy, their moral wealth of giving souls!
Let us be worthy of the memory of the good deeds of our ancestors!
Current account of the VSUM Veterans Social Protection Fund:
Recipient: non-state Social Protection Fund for Employees of OJSC “VSUM”
INN 7704206392 Checkpoint 770401001
r/account 40703810602000000001 at the Branch of OJSC Lipetskoblbank in Moscow
BIC 044583796
k/subaccount 30101810900000000796 in Branch No. 1 of the Moscow State Technical University of the Bank of Russia
INN 4825004973 KPP 775002001
Driving past the FSB Academy on Michurinsky Prospekt, I noticed that a new complex of buildings was being built by a private company. It’s as if we don’t have military construction organizations in our country. In fact, apart from Spetsstroy of Russia, there are no longer any of them left now. During the years of reforms, the main thing was privatized military construction department, Main Military Construction Directorate "Center" (GVSU "Center"), Main Directorate of the Construction Industry of the Ministry of Defense. Until recently, only GUSS (Main Directorate special construction), which was renamed either the Directorate for the Arrangement of Troops (UOV), or the Main Directorate for the Arrangement of the Troops. At present, it has also been decided to corporatize the former GUSS, and those of its units that carried out work at facilities like the Plesetsk cosmodrome and performed other important tasks are transferred to the Federal Agency for Special Construction (Spetsstroy of Russia). Thank God that it exists and is developing, otherwise defense construction in general could simply collapse.
Currently, the headquarters of military construction projects, the Central Organizational Planning Directorate (TsOPU), has also been disbanded.
How did we come to the conclusion that the most powerful military-construction complex was actually liquidated?!
Since 1987, military construction units began to be spat upon in the media. They began to be called the heirs of the military settlements of Arakcheev, the remnants of serfdom. Such publications as Ogonyok, Moskovsky Komsomolets, and Izvestia were especially zealous in this. Later, even the magazine “ Soviet warrior" Since 1989, Red Star’s performances in defense of military builders have become less militant. And even Kaledin’s vile work “Stroibat”. You will read such materials and you will be horrified: they mock people, they say they are doing work that is completely unnecessary for the army. And there are no such formations in any country. Detractors of military construction did not seem to know that military construction work is actively carried out by the US Army Corps of Engineers, that military construction formations under different names exist in all countries of the world and have existed at all times, starting with Ancient Egypt. By the way, even the ancient Romans, who modern humanity borrowed a lot (even weather reports and taxis), they believed that construction was one of the most important military specialties.
I don’t mind that it was in vain that people with a criminal record were called into construction units, that it was the latter who brought hazing. But military builders performed important work for the benefit of the Motherland, and also received valuable civil life specialties. The situation had to be corrected, rather than throwing out the baby with the bathwater, and privatization of military organizations should have been undertaken. Maybe we’ll even trust foreign construction companies to build special fortifications(SPS) and other defense facilities. Let them know what and how it works, because all the secrets can be revealed!
By the way, the importance of military builders was made even more important by the scientific and technological revolution in military affairs that occurred in the 50s, associated with the development of nuclear missile weapons, which led to fundamental changes in the structure and technical equipment troops. The role of special military facilities (combat missile systems, air and missile defense systems, highly protected command posts, wired communication centers, receiving and transmitting radio centers, airfields, ship bases Navy etc.), erected in advance in peacetime using capital construction methods. Existing ones have become significantly more complex and fundamentally new special structures have appeared, technical systems and equipment of special facilities have changed qualitatively. At the same time, the requirements for the arrangement and quartering of troops were significantly tightened. There has been a radical change in the nature of all construction in the Ministry of Defense, its tasks have expanded significantly, and volumes have increased.
Special educational institutions were also needed, the network of which, now, due to the reduction in construction volumes and the disbandment of most units, has begun to collapse.
It's a shame that with the reform sad fate awaits next year the renowned Military Engineering and Technical University (VITU), which recently celebrated its 70th anniversary. He will have to become part of the Military Academy of Logistics and Transport and be redeployed from St. Petersburg.
The birth of the university was on June 22, 1939, when the People's Commissar of the Navy N.G. Kuznetsov signed order No. 301, which stated: “Based on the Resolution of the Council of People’s Commissars USSR No. 148 of June 10, 1939 to organize at the base Leningrad Institute Industrial Construction Engineers Higher Naval Engineering and Construction School of the Republic of Kazakhstan Navy (VVMISU)” was not accidental.
Quantitative and qualitative change the structure of the Navy as one of the important components of the country's Armed Forces, required the creation of new and radical reconstruction of existing forces and means of basing the fleet and coastal defense.
This problem was practically solved on the basis of the widespread introduction of scientific and technological achievements and the use of world experience in the design, construction and operation of coastal and hydraulic facilities of the fleet. Since the technical and electrical power equipment of these facilities has sharply increased, an urgent need has arisen to increase the number and improve the quality of training of general-purpose military power engineers.
In April 1960, by directive of the Minister of Defense, the Red Banner Higher Engineering and Technical School was transferred from the Navy system to the subordination of the Deputy Ministry of Defense of the USSR for the construction and quartering of troops. He was entrusted with the task of training military engineers for the entire capital construction system of the Ministry of Defense. Since September 1960, the school became known as the Higher Military Engineering and Technical School (VVITKU).
More and more new specialties appeared on the basis of existing faculties. Including electrical engineers for the installation of electrical equipment of special objects of the Ministry of Defense, electrical engineers for the installation of thermal power equipment of special objects of the Ministry of Defense, as well as specialists completely new to the school - mechanical engineers for the operation of construction machines and equipment of production enterprises of military construction organizations. The educational institution developed successfully. Already at the beginning of the 21st century, psychologists began to be trained there.
Back in the dashing 90s, as evidenced by Doctor of Technical Sciences, Colonel V.G. Krivov in his book “On the Frontiers of Military Energy,” far-sighted leaders did everything to ensure that this university, famous for its scientific schools, transformed in 1993 into the Military Civil Engineering Institute (VISI), was preserved. On its basis it is necessary to create the first polytechnic university in the Armed Forces, training personnel not only for the military construction complex. For example, the energy department of the school, which was based on the electromechanical department created on June 10, 1941, has today become the leading educational unit for training military energy specialists.
In connection with the special role as an educational and scientific center in the training of military engineering personnel and scientific support Construction on the basis of VISI and the Pkinsky Higher Military Engineering Construction School (PVVISU) the Military Engineering and Technical University (VITU) was formed. The transformation into a university was an act of recognition of its high authority as an educational and scientific center of the construction and housing authorities of the Ministry of Defense. VITU was entrusted with: implementation of professional educational programs of higher and postgraduate education in military engineering and technical specialties; training, retraining and (or) advanced training of scientific and scientific-pedagogical personnel, as well as training on a contractual basis of specialists for federal authorities; performance scientific research; carrying out the functions of a scientific and scientific-methodological center of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in the field of its activities.
The currently planned merger with the Academy of Logistics and Transport will lead to the death of unique scientific schools Military Engineering and Technical University, the destruction of military traditions will not at all serve the cause of strengthening the defense of our Fatherland.
Military engineer and historian,
Vasily Lamtsov
In 2016, the Ministry of Defense not only actively purchased weapons and military equipment, but also carried out the construction of hundreds of facilities throughout the country. Deputy Defense Minister TIMUR IVANOV spoke in an interview with Kommersant about why reform of the military-construction complex is overdue, what problems arise at construction sites and why the military is abolishing Spetsstroy.
- What volume of construction is currently underway in the interests of the Ministry of Defense?
It is colossal and comparable in scale to the post-war period: more than 2 thousand objects of both special and social purposes are being built at the same time. These are radar stations hydraulic structures, airfields, medical facilities, residential buildings, schools and kindergartens, cadet schools, military camps, training grounds, berths. The work is carried out from Kaliningrad to the Kuril Islands. In 2016 alone, over 2.5 thousand buildings and structures with a total area of 2.7 million square meters were built.
I would highlight several of the largest objects. In Vilyuchinsk, before the arrival of the first Boreys, a number of the most important berthing front facilities and coastal engineering infrastructure were commissioned; in Novorossiysk, a berthing front for Project 636 submarines was built. The arrangement of military camps for two Iskander-M missile brigades in the Southern Military District was completed. The infrastructure facilities of the first regiments of the Strategic Missile Forces, equipped with mobile and stationary Yars missile systems, were put into operation, and the arrangement of the missile brigade in Shuya was completed. Work continues in the Arctic zone.
In 2016, in just five months, Tula Suvorovsky was rebuilt from scratch military school, construction of the Petrozavodsk Presidential Cadet School has begun. The work is being carried out on our own, with approximately 30 thousand people.
- This is without the involvement of subcontractors?
With subcontractors - plus 5-10 thousand people. The Minister set the task of reducing construction time and switching to standard solutions. We analyzed all projects that received a positive expert opinion since 2010. We divided these projects into groups: canteens, dormitories, barracks, headquarters buildings, checkpoints, and so on. Now, when a new technical specification for equipping a military unit is being formed, the command determines everything necessary based on the ready list.
Due to this, we reduce design time and deal only with construction. We also analyzed what we can build from. Initially, everything was built from reinforced concrete, then metal frame structures replaced it. Now we use block-modular technology, due to which the construction of the structure takes no more than a month. Application standard solutions makes it possible to reduce the time required for carrying out design and survey work by about 30%, halve the time required for passing the state examination of design documentation, and also reduce the cost of survey work by at least 5 billion rubles. annually.
It should be noted the pace of construction of priority facilities. Construction of military camps to accommodate personnel and equipment motorized rifle division at the training ground in the Southern Military District began in March, and on December 1, military personnel already arrived there. We quickly built infrastructure for a motorized rifle division on the territory of the Western Military District.
- What are the main problems of military construction?
They are typical for the entire construction industry as a whole, and not just for military construction. We must understand that construction in Russia is now one of the areas most affected by the reduction in funding. And the problems here are caused not only by the difficult financial and economic situation, but also by a sharp reduction in orders from large contractors - primarily the state. And in the absence of mega-constructions comparable in scale to the Sochi Olympics, there is no positive dynamics in the industry.
However, in the field of military construction the situation is better, because the state, represented by the Ministry of Defense, forms a stable state order that guarantees sustainable financing of the industry.
Nevertheless, the main problems in the field of military construction arise from the dishonesty of contractors. A typical example is the SU-155 company, which did not fulfill its obligations on housing construction in Moscow. The amount of the unpaid advance amounted to 18 billion rubles. These are four residential microdistricts with 16 thousand apartments, located in different areas of the capital. Using money received from the Ministry of Defense in 2011-2012, the company began building commercial projects without completing construction, including utility networks in residential buildings of the Ministry of Defense.
Due to problems with an unscrupulous contractor, the process of providing housing to military personnel who were allocated housing in Moscow was delayed. According to the terms of the contract, the company was supposed to hand over all new buildings for occupancy back in 2014, but work on most houses is still not completed. Main Directorate for the Arrangement of Troops at the expense of own funds continued construction and commissioned two metropolitan microdistricts, as well as several new buildings on Levoberezhnaya and Polina Osipenko streets. But the issue of financing these works is still relevant, since collecting the amount of the unpaid advance from the SU-155 is now very problematic.
- Why?
Firstly, there is no court decision yet. When the problem with the SU-155 arose, it turned out that throughout the country the company had about 40 thousand clients waiting for an apartment. At the end of 2015, an amendment to the bankruptcy law was adopted, according to which priority rights were given to equity holders. Thus, the Ministry of Defense, as the main creditor for 18 billion rubles, found itself in the fourth line.
To solve this pressing issue, we found a mechanism by involving the Housing Mortgage Lending Agency - now it acts as a state agent for the sale of the agency’s property.
Let me remind you that Sergei Kuzhugetovich (Shoigu.- "Kommersant") at the end of 2012 introduced a moratorium on the sale of state real estate. Since then, not a single square meter of living space or land has been sold. Now, according to the law, we have the right to transfer land plots and buildings that are released and not used in the interests of the department state agency on mortgage lending to bring unused property into economic circulation and thus resolve issues of housing construction for military personnel.
- And when do you expect to get the result?
In the first quarter current year we will complete the work, including through cooperation with the Agency for Housing Mortgage Lending. By the way, in December alone, five new buildings with 1,805 apartments were put into operation in Moscow. Well, in general, if we talk about housing issues, in 2016 the Ministry of Defense actually switched to planned provision of housing for military personnel, when an apartment or housing subsidy is provided to a serviceman in the same year when he receives the right to permanent housing.
In 2017, the remaining residential buildings with a total capacity of more than 8 thousand apartments will be handed over for occupancy in Moscow. This will provide a solution to the problem for 85% of military personnel who have chosen Moscow as their place of residence. The remaining military personnel waiting for an apartment in the capital will be provided with housing subsidies. By the way, the federal budget allocates 37.78 billion annually for it in 2017-2019.
The previous leadership of the Ministry of Defense explained that everyone who is entitled to housing wants to live in Moscow and that is why there are problems with the queue.
The situation here is ambiguous. In fact, having received an apartment in Moscow, many immediately put them up for sale. It's clear, everyone different reasons Sometimes, they have the right to dispose of property that they legally received from the state. It is also clear that the apartments outside Khimki, on Levoberezhnaya Street or near the Begovaya metro station are different money. Everyone says: “We won’t go to Molzhaninovo, we want to live on Khoroshevskoye Highway.” Here an apartment on the market costs, roughly speaking, 100 thousand rubles. per square meter, and there - 450 thousand.
- How does the savings-mortgage housing system for military personnel work?
In 2016, participants in this system purchased 13 thousand apartments through the armed forces. In total, since the launch of the program, the number of participants has been steadily growing annually by 20 thousand military personnel. In 2008 there were 40 thousand people, now there are 176 thousand. Do you feel the difference? There is every reason to believe that in a few years the savings-mortgage system will become the main form of housing provision for military personnel.
- Have the approaches to the construction of military infrastructure changed in any way?
Undoubtedly. One of the important decisions that was made is related to the synchronization of arms supplies and military equipment with the pace of construction of supporting infrastructure facilities. That is, so that the supply of equipment is interconnected with the commissioning of storage and service areas. In other words, we managed to get away from the practice when a unit receives new equipment, but there is no shelter for it. Or the shelters have been built, but the equipment will arrive only in two years.
Now all incoming equipment is stored in modern storage facilities: Iskanders, Yars, Bastions and other serious weapons. Similar infrastructure was built, among other things, on the islands of the Kuril chain.
- Do you mean Iturup and Kunashir?
Yes. We achieved this despite the fact that the contractor failed to fulfill its obligations. We have to untie small knots: everything was built from scratch, sometimes the developers did not have time to issue the appropriate documentation, changes were made to the project. All this made construction very difficult.
- Will the military reform continue for a long time?
The main task is to create a unified military construction complex. So that there is not just a separate construction department and other disparate structures, but a single organism functioning.
- Was the reorganization of Spetsstroy started precisely for this reason?
- Basically yes, but not only. As part of the reorganization of Spetsstroy, the Ministry of Defense should retain eight units instead of the current nineteen. This decision was supported and approved senior management countries. These enterprises will specialize in the construction of facilities in each of the military districts and in the Northern Fleet, and will also deal with highly specialized issues: they will be responsible for the construction of aerospace forces and airfields, for the infrastructure of the Strategic Missile Forces, for the construction of berthing facilities in the interests of the Navy. Fundamentally, the issues have been resolved, all that remains is to understand how best to use the capabilities of some Spetsstroy divisions. For example, one of the headquarters is building some of the facilities on the territory of the Southern Military District, and some of the facilities are being built in the Arctic and on Far East. The enterprise itself is strong: it has equipment and people, it has its own design bureau inside.
- What is the fate of the remaining assets of Spetsstroy?
We are now conducting a financial, economic and technical audit of the actual state of each federal state unitary enterprise and headquarters. We have created two commissions: one commission is responsible for the liquidation of Spetsstroy as a body executive power, the second - analyzes the state of the subordinate enterprises themselves.
- Are there any preliminary results yet?
They will appear by the end of January. In general, the task of reorganizing the military construction complex must be completed before July 1, 2017. Until this moment, we will coordinate the issues of employment of employees in the Ministry of Defense central office Spetsstroy. Some of them will be taken over by the construction department, some of the people responsible for corporate relations, control and approval of major transactions will continue to work in the property relations department, some of the people responsible for legal relations will go to the legal department. We will do the same with enterprises subordinate to Spetsstroy.
- Does this apply only to builders?
Everyone. These include construction specialists, drivers, security guards, and cleaners. There are even several sanatoriums.
- What will happen to the enterprises of Spetsstroy, which the Ministry of Defense does not need?
If these are not in demand, then we will recommend reassigning them to industry. For example, there is Spetsstroyservice: this organization has a large batch of orders from Roscosmos, Rostec, the Ministry of Industry and Trade... Within a month we must make proposals on changing the jurisdiction of certain enterprises. Then we will agree on their transfer to the jurisdiction of other executive authorities.
- Why did the Ministry of Defense decide to reorganize the agency?
Spetsstroy itself was an executive body, and the only executors of contracts were the enterprises subordinate to it. The customer is the Ministry of Defense, and government contracts were concluded between the military department represented by the construction department and Spetsstroy enterprises. The agency actually had several functions: approval of major transactions, control of financial and economic activities, appointment of directors of enterprises. By reorganizing the military construction complex, we are moving to comprehensive work directly with the performer.
In addition, the system that was built in Spetsstroy implied a large number of intermediary and contracting organizations: Spetsstroyengineering entered into contracts there with the Main Directorate of Special Construction N3, and that, in turn, entered into a contract with the Main Directorate of Engineering Works N2, and so on . And such a chain reached three or four enterprises. This is unacceptable today. Therefore, our goal is to remove the chain of intermediaries and duplicating functions at these enterprises. The number of administrative personnel will be reduced by at least half, and efficiency will increase.
What is the most important thing in construction? Production. And it is obvious that in order to feed these 44 thousand people, there must be either huge contracts or large profits. There are no such profits in construction.
- What will be the role of the Main Directorate for the Arrangement of Troops (GUOV. - Kommersant) in the new configuration?
It often happened to us that at the same time in the same region, sometimes on the same site, but across the fence, a special facility was being built by Spetsstroy, and the GUOV was working exactly a hundred meters away. To avoid such situations, we will ensure that contracts that are implemented in parallel at one facility are transferred under a single management.
- Does the reduction in the military budget have any effect on construction?
We have synchronized the arms supply schedules with the construction schedule, essentially shifting to the right those facilities that are not a priority. In order to fit into the budget planned for 2017, which is 117 billion rubles, we will spend about 50% on development projects under multi-year contracts, that is, in order to complete the projects with high degree readiness this year. And we intend to leave 50% as a reserve to meet the operational construction needs of the armed forces.
Currently under development state program weapons for the period 2018-2025. This means that the budget for the purchase of weapons will no longer be formed according to one principle, and the construction budget - according to another. The Supreme Commander-in-Chief supported approaches to the formation of basic expenditures of the Ministry of Defense and serious work has already been carried out to approve basic expenditure indicators based on the normative method. the main objective- creation of a mechanism for long-term financial planning and eliminating the problem of the imbalance between the supply of weapons and the creation of infrastructure in matters of financing.
- What measures were taken after the collapse of the Airborne Forces barracks in Omsk in 2015?
By decision of the minister, an inspection of all departmental facilities was carried out: primarily the barracks and housing stock and social infrastructure. Based on the results of the inspection, all interested military authorities began to eliminate violations. 169 objects were taken out of service and written off. In total, the commissions have to date inspected more than 90 thousand capital objects. And this colossal work is still ongoing, since, unfortunately, we still have a lot of “old” objects.
In order to prevent the recurrence of such tragedies, instrumental examinations of all buildings and structures undergoing reconstruction or major repairs were carried out. In addition, before starting reconstruction or major repairs, each object undergoes a rigorous examination by a specialized organization for signs of failure of the main building structures.
- A military medicine? What is happening in this area now?
Military medical institutions continue to actively develop. New buildings in hospitals and sanatoriums in Sochi and Anapa have been put into operation, a comprehensive reconstruction of historical funds is being completed Military Medical Academy, new medical units were built in the troops. It is planned to open in June of this year. multidisciplinary clinic in St. Petersburg.
It was possible to achieve a significant reduction in the incidence of military personnel, as well as to increase the volume of high-tech care in our hospitals. The main task remains to increase the availability and quality of medical care, and therefore the good health of our military personnel, members of their families and veterans.
Considering the number military construction detachments(about 500 - only in civilian ministries and departments) with an average staffing of 600-800 people in the 1980s, personnel military construction troops reached 300-400 thousand people, which at that time quantitatively exceeded such types of troops as the Airborne Forces (60,000), Marine Infantry (15,000) and Border Troops of the KGB of the USSR (220,000) combined.
Despite wide use And large numbers, the work of military builders in the national economy, as some believed, contradicted the Constitution of the USSR and the USSR Law on General military duty, and such units themselves were illegal (see the report of the Chief Military Prosecutor of the USSR, Lieutenant General of Justice A.F. Katusev at a meeting of members of the Committee of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on Defense and state security, June 1990).
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✪ Construction troops
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IN THE USSR
Construction troops(or colloquially “construction battalion”) is the name of the formations that were subordinate to the Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR for Construction and Cantonment and other civilian ministers of the Union.
To carry out the tasks of quartering and arranging troops (forces) in the USSR Armed Forces, the military districts (MD) (fleets) and the corresponding structures of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR and the KGB of the USSR included military construction departments (MCD), an analogue of which in civil engineering is a construction trust.
The military construction departments were subordinated to the engineering works departments (uir), to which the works chief departments (unr) were subordinate - analogues of the civil construction departments.
Construction and installation sites (SMU), construction sites (SU), warehouses, transport bases and human resources concentrated in military construction military units of districts, groups of forces, fleets and other associations of the USSR Armed Forces and civilian ministries were subordinate to the directorate of the work manager.
The main military construction unit was military construction squad(vso), having the status of a military unit - a separate battalion, which is why the collective colloquial name “construction battalion” came about, although this term existed earlier. Term construction battalion was officially withdrawn from circulation in the 1970s and the term detachment was introduced, which, in this case, indicated the versatility of the military construction unit. As an exception, in the 80s the term construction battalion was used only in foreign groups of troops - for example, in the GSVG (57th military construction brigade) and in OKSVA (342nd Engineering Directorate). Each of these compounds consisted of several separate construction battalions .
Military construction detachment (VSO) is a permanent formation in the USSR Armed Forces (USSR Defense Ministry) and other USSR Ministries, consisting of headquarters and units and intended to perform construction and installation work, manufacturing structures and parts at industrial and logging enterprises of the USSR Defense Ministry system and others work in the ministries of the USSR. The military construction detachment was a battalion consisting of 3-6 companies. The staff and equipment of the battalion varied depending on the tasks it performed, which included: construction of defense facilities, construction of roads and bridges, construction of residential buildings, land reclamation, procurement of building materials, etc. The VSO was recruited mainly from conscripts who had completed construction training institutions or those who had construction or related professions or experience in construction - (plumbers, bulldozer operators, cable workers, etc.), as well as from conscripts who had a suspended or served conviction for minor crimes. Rights, duties and responsibilities of military builders ( in/builders, in/page) were determined by military legislation, and work activity regulated by labor legislation (with some peculiarities in the application of one or the other). Remuneration for construction workers was made according to current standards. The mandatory period of work in the VSO was counted towards the period of active military service. It was also envisaged that during the war, military builders would be able, if necessary, to carry out tasks assigned to infantry units, so full-fledged combat training was planned, but carried out formally, so as not to distract personnel from performing basic tasks. construction work.
Depending on the number of personnel employed at construction sites, military construction detachments could be reorganized into military construction regiments(vsp), separate military construction companies(Ovsr), etc., and vice versa, so that the nature of the supply and the staffing of the rear services correspond to the number of military builders.
Basic number military construction units was concentrated in the Ministry of Defense under the command of the Deputy Minister of Defense for Construction and Cantonment of Troops (ZamMO of the USSR for Civil Defense). Subordinate to him were six main departments (Glavkov), one central:
- Main Military Construction Directorate of the USSR Ministry of Defense (GVSU MO USSR);
- Main Military Construction Directorate "Center" of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR (GVSU "Center" of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation of the USSR);
- Main Directorate of Special Construction of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR (GUSS MO USSR);
- Main Apartment Operations Directorate of the USSR Ministry of Defense (GlavKEU MO USSR);
- Main Directorate of Construction Industry of the USSR Ministry of Defense (GUSP USSR Ministry of Defense);
- Central Organizational and Planning Directorate for Capital Construction of the USSR Ministry of Defense (TsOPU USSR Ministry of Defense)
In accordance with the resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated February 13, No. 187-102c, the Military Reconstruction Directorate (VVU) was formed as part of the People's Commissariat of Communications with the aim of managing all military units for the restoration, repair and construction of line-cable structures, telephone -telegraph and radio broadcasting centers, radio stations and postal enterprises in the territory liberated from the German occupiers.
Possessing its own powerful construction industry, GUSS year after year mastered the production of new series of residential buildings. He built and delivered more than 17 million square meters of comfortable housing, and carried out the construction of various social and cultural facilities, including a unique bicycle track in Krylatskoye.
At the beginning of 1956, to complete construction in Armed Forces The USSR maintained military construction units numbering 231,015 military builders. In addition, outside the norms of the size of the Armed Forces of the USSR, there were military construction units numbering 73,095 military builders, and military construction detachments numbering 218,880 people. conscripted military workers.
The use of military personnel in industry is a violation of the Constitution of the USSR, since according to Article 132 of the Constitution military service, which is honorable duty citizens of the USSR, should take place in the ranks of the Armed Forces of the USSR, and not in the construction organizations of civilian ministries of the USSR. In this regard, it is quite natural that there would be sharp dissatisfaction among military personnel assigned to work in military construction units and, in particular, in military construction detachments. They immediately realize their false position of being formally drafted into the ranks of the Soviet Army, but in fact being used outside the army as work force. Facts show that these military personnel consider their use of work instead of military service to be illegal and many of them protest in all possible forms, including open disobedience and desertion...
...The practice of many years shows that construction organizations of civil ministries organize poorly production activities military construction units and detachments and are completely careless about their material and living support, as a result of which the labor productivity of workers in construction units and detachments is extremely low, and earnings are low. All this led before and is now leading to mass cases of indignation, absenteeism, rowdy behavior, fights and serious violations. public order…
...the material and living conditions of the detachments are unsatisfactory, and some of them are in very difficult material and living conditions. For example: Military construction detachment 1052 was stationed in November 1955 in an unfinished building. The workers slept dressed, since the temperature in the rooms did not exceed +3 degrees. For a month, the workers were not washed in the bathhouse or their underwear was changed, which resulted in lice. 75 workers of the detachment received a severe cold. Despite very coldy, the workers were not given felt boots, as a result of which they worked in the cold in boots, and during transportation to the work site they wrapped their feet in various rags. Ten workers in this detachment suffered severe frostbite on their feet. Medical service and the food supply is extremely poor. In November-December 1955, the workers of the detachment were not given wages.
In the detachments of the Ministry of General Engineering, the situation is even worse: workers live in unheated rooms, food is prepared under open air at a frost of 30-40 degrees. There are 10-15 frostbitten people in the detachments.
All of the above conditions have an extremely negative impact on the state of discipline and lead to disobedience to superiors, mass unauthorized absences, thefts, drunkenness, fights and disruption of public order on such a scale that in some cases the intervention of troops and police was required.
The procedure for military construction workers to serve is regulated by the Regulations on the military construction detachment of the USSR Ministry of Defense, put into effect by order of the USSR Minister of Defense dated May 30, 1977 No. 175. In accordance with this Regulation, a military builder is paid a salary for work on a construction site, from which is deducted the cost of food, uniforms, bath and laundry services, cultural events and other types of support, combined into clothing debt. After transfer to the reserve and final payments, a money transfer with the money earned is sent to the military builder, or performance list to pay off debts. Military construction workers employed in a unit or located in a medical unit are paid the average salary for their unit.
Individual soldiers (sailors) of military construction detachments (medical instructors, signalmen, etc.) had the status of military personnel; food, uniforms, etc. were free for them.
In the 1980s, approximately 500 military construction units worked in 11 different "civilian" ministries.
Disbanded in 1992 military construction teams(units) working on the construction of national economic facilities in civilian military construction detachments (units) of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR. The Council of Ministers of the USSR in the first quarter of 1991 to approve the procedure and specific terms for disbandment military construction detachments(units) working in the Ministry of Nuclear Energy Industry of the USSR, the Ministry of Communications of the USSR, Rosvostokstroy and the Main Directorate of Special Construction under the Council of Ministers of the USSR.
There were military construction formations, for example, in Glavspetsstroy under the Ministry of Installation and Special Construction Works of the USSR, the Ministry of Land Reclamation and water management USSR, in republican ministries (for example, in the Ministry of Construction in eastern regions RSFSR).
As of June 1990, military construction formations, in addition to the Armed Forces of the USSR, were available in 22 more ministries and departments, the total staffing exceeded 330 thousand military personnel and military builders (see the report of the Chief Military Prosecutor, Lieutenant General of Justice A. F. Katusev at a meeting of members Committee of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on Defense and State Security, June 1990).
Military construction units in the Afghan war
In this regard, since the fall of 1980, OKSVA has been creating 342nd Engineering Works Directorate (342nd Uir) - a connection of military construction units formed to create military infrastructure. Organizationally, it included 9 military construction battalions, in 1984 the 159th Specialized Brigade was reorganized into the 58th Specialized Brigade, redirecting it exclusively to cargo transportation and supplying military units. Puli-Khumri was later subordinated.
As such, there are no longer any military construction formations in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The construction and construction of facilities for military needs is carried out by specialized non-military organizations.
Ranks
Military builders are awarded the following titles:
Military personnel of private and non-commissioned personnel of military construction units who were in the position of military personnel, as well as those serving beyond their term of service, were awarded the military ranks of private and non-commissioned personnel of the army, aviation and navy: from private (sailor) to petty officer (chief foreman).
Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin decided to liquidate the Federal Agency for Special Construction, subordinate to the Ministry of Defense. The functions of constructing facilities to ensure the country's defense capability are supposed to be directly assigned to the Ministry of Defense, to which the assets of the abolished agency will be transferred. But whether this means a revival of the Russian military-construction complex is still a big question.
About the Military Construction Complex of the USSR (in soldier’s folklore – “royal troops”) and military construction formations (military construction detachments or, in common parlance, abbreviated as VSO), and in common parlance “construction battalion”, many myths and wild inventions were formed and are still valid today and legends.
Yes, of course, there was a real negative aspect of the specifics of the military construction service. Many conscripts shunned the construction troops, and military leadership The country of the Soviets from time to time opposed the existence of a construction department within the Ministry of Defense.
Therefore, quite easily and simply, the Russian Ministry of Defense got rid of the builders in uniform and tried to shift the burden of responsibility for the construction of defense facilities to the Federal Agency for Special Construction.
It turned out so depressingly that the independent activities of Spetsstroy in the future became meaningless and simply impossible due to huge government expenses, blatant corrupt schemes and the focus on maximizing personal profit by any means, including criminal ones.
Such a situation in military construction complex The USSR Ministry of Defense did not exist and could not exist. But everything new - this well-forgotten old - was remembered in the country's military leadership and, apparently, they decided to return to the old system of the military-construction complex, directly subordinating it to the Ministry of Defense.
Among pseudo-liberal figures in Russia, the expected wave of fierce criticism of the actions of Supreme Commander-in-Chief and the Minister of Defense. From the dilapidated storehouses of the history of military construction troops, some political scientists and historians began to pull out the most unsightly facts about the activities of the military construction complex of the USSR Ministry of Defense.
But thank God, not everyone in our state has lost their memory and conscience; there are still many veterans left who went through the thorns of serving in the “royal troops.”
Questions for backfilling
- Can a power that does not build defensive facilities lay claim to a solo role in the symphony of world states?
- What was good and what was bad about the activities of the USSR Military-Industrial Complex?
- Why did his reform lead to the creation of such an ugly monster as Spetsstroy?
- Why should military construction units be aimed at results, and not at making commercial profits?
A state that conducts only private (private) construction cannot be a power of global importance.
This thesis is equally indisputably perceived in the military academies of Russia and the sanctuary of American science - Weist-Ponte. And the detractors of our military builders don’t seem to know (maybe they really don’t know?) that large-scale military construction work has been actively carried out for many decades by the US Army Corps of Engineers and almost two million Chinese military personnel.
Isn’t it generally known that military formations under different names exist in all countries of the world and have existed at all times, starting from biblical times? By the way, even the ancient Romans, from whom modern humanity has borrowed a lot of useful things, believed that construction was one of the most important military specialties.
Therefore, the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of December 29, 2016, “On the abolition of the Federal Agency for Special Construction,” is quite natural and logical for a state conducting enormous defensive construction.
According to this Decree, until July 1, 2017, Spetsstroy ceases its independent activities, and its functions are transferred to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
So where do Russian military construction formations trace their historical origins?
A more or less unified system of military construction formations began to take shape in the Russian Army before the First World War and was improved until the October Revolution of 1917.
During the creation of the Armed Forces of the Soviet State, serious attention was also paid to the organization of military construction units, since the Bolshevik leadership of the country followed the advice of the Tsarist military ministers Belyaev and Polivanov, who rightly believed that without these formations, it would be extremely difficult to ensure the defense capability of the young Soviet Republic.
Only in the period from 1918 to 1921, 48 military field construction departments were formed for the construction of defensive structures, the personnel of which largely ensured the defeat of the white movement.
By order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR dated January 1, 2001 No. 000/96, a Construction Department (since 1925 - Military Construction Department) was formed within the structure of the Armed Forces, subordinate to the Chief Supply Officer of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army.
This department was entrusted with the tasks of uniting the defensive, barracks, special construction and housing support of the Red Army and managing them. Thus, for the first time in the Red Army system, a single governing body was created, which concentrated management of activities related to the construction and maintenance of all military facilities.
Construction Guard of the Soviet Country in the Great Patriotic War
The Great Patriotic War acutely confronted military construction formations with the task of constructing defensive structures.
Moreover, the construction of mobilization defensive lines in the interior of the country, including the State Defense Line on the distant approaches to Moscow (Rzhev-Vyazemsky line), was planned by the military leadership in advance. In one of the documents, by the hand of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army, General Vatutin, a phrase was written about the need to begin construction of the Rzhev-Vyazemsky border in peacetime.
This suggests that in the leadership of the Red Army there were people who were not afraid to consider the most realistic different variants developments in the event of war with Germany and took appropriate preparatory measures at their own peril and risk.
On the eve of the war, the Red Army included special construction troops (more correctly, the labor army), which were responsible for the construction and repair of military facilities and civil structures for related purposes.
When the war began, most of the Red Army's construction troops assisted its engineering troops in the construction of new fortified areas in the western military districts. The German invasion destroyed these troops in a matter of days, forcing the NPO to form new construction units almost from scratch, necessary for construction in the rear additional milestones defense
In addition to this official structure construction troops The Red Army had a large number of hastily formed construction battalions, columns and detachments, which it used to build defensive lines, as well as other military and civilian structures.
Created, as a rule, on a temporary basis, these units were recruited first personnel from non-Slavic ethnic and religious minorities who were considered politically too unreliable for combat missions. These special construction troops included both men and women, many of whom were either under normal conscription age or long past it.
Throughout the war, more than 330 such units participated in defensive construction, including over 100 in the army, 60 in the navy and 100 in the air force.
“Two soldiers from the construction battalion are replacing an excavator”
In June 1949, it was decided to unite military construction structures into a single Military Construction Complex of the Armed Forces and introduce the post of Deputy Minister of Defense for Construction and Cantonment of Troops. General Colonel V.E. Beloskokov was appointed to him.
From the Chief of Logistics of the Armed Forces, the Main Construction Directorate, the Department of Material Funds and the Apartment Maintenance Department were transferred to his subordination.
At that time, the country had only partially healed the wounds inflicted by the Great Patriotic War. And the international situation and the situation in the world required the speedy construction of an anti-missile shield, industrial and other facilities of the country’s defense complex.
This led to the creation of a militarized structure for the capital construction of the Armed Forces and a number of civilian ministries, primarily the Ministry of Medium Engineering, that is, the department involved in the creation of the atomic bomb and nuclear energy.
This structure included construction and installation departments, where the labor force was mainly used by military construction detachments (MCD) of four or five companies, organized according to the principle separate battalions. The company's strength was 120 people.
The term “construction battalion” or in everyday use “construction battalion” was born in the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of February 13, 1942 on the formation of the Military Reconstruction Directorate, which was engaged in the repair and construction of facilities in the territories liberated from the German occupiers.
Repeatedly attempts were made to remove this term from official circulation.
The first attempt was made in 1954–1956. During that period, due to the general reduction of the Armed Forces, builders were also removed from the Ministry of Defense, becoming “military conscription workers.” And their formations began to be called construction columns. However, already in 1958, this decision was revised and “military builders” and Military Construction Units finally appeared.
However, the phrase "construction battalion" continued to be used in relation to some groups of foreign troops. The “Stroybatovtsy” ironically called themselves “royal troops.”
Very briefly about military construction formations Soviet State– military construction units (VSO).
As an independent financial and economic unit, the military construction detachment (VSO) had a bank account, cost estimates and was part of the Office of the Chief of Works (UNR) or the military construction department (MAC).
Military construction detachments (VSO) had the status military units, were recruited by privates and non-commissioned officers through the Main Organizational and Mobilization Directorate of the General Staff, and by officers through the Main Personnel Directorate of the Ministry of Defense.
The VSO was staffed mainly by conscripts who graduated from construction schools. Construction teams were often replenished with people from rural areas who “knew how to hold a tool in their hands.” Troubled youth were also sent there, often with a criminal record.
Although it was not customary to talk about it, national characteristic was another criterion for selection into the construction battalion. Thus, the share of Caucasian and Central Asian peoples in some construction battalions, it reached 90% of the personnel.
It is widely believed that the reason why people from Central Asia and the Caucasus were allowed mainly to do construction work; they had poor knowledge of the Russian language. The national composition of the construction brigades scared off many conscripts.
Another category of conscripts for whom the road to the construction battalion was “banned” are young men with disabilities. Their parents, by hook or by crook, looked for all sorts of workarounds to protect their children from labor service.
Among Soviet youth, the construction battalion was not considered the most prestigious place for military service. His unpopularity was largely due to the fact that he had only a formal relationship directly with military affairs.
However, the recruits who joined the construction detachments had certain advantages over those drafted into other branches of the military. According to order No. 175 of the USSR Minister of Defense dated May 30, 1977, a military builder was paid wage, from which, however, the cost of food, uniforms, bath and laundry services, cultural events and other types of support – those that were united under the concept of “clothing debt” – was deducted. On average, the earnings of a diligent military builder were 80-110 rubles per month, with a monthly deduction for maintenance ranging from 30 to 50 rubles.
For almost a quarter of a century - from the mid-1960s to the early 1990s - the practice of using military construction units, their structure, content and material incentives for labor ensured the profitability of these units and the accomplishment of their assigned tasks. Compliance with production standards by almost all military construction detachments was no less than 100%. But the commanders were not only concerned about construction.
One day a week - Saturday - was specially set aside for combat training. Political studies, study of the regulations of the Armed Forces, combat, fire and tactical training were carried out. Each company had weapons rooms, and each military unit had obstacle courses (assault stripes).
Background of the Federal Agency for Special Construction
At the beginning of " cold war“from the Ministry of Defense of the USSR, departments and divisions that carry out the construction of special facilities are separated. It is from this period that we can talk about the separation from the complex of military construction formations of the USSR of special units that carry out special construction and have a status different from other construction formations.
On March 31, 1951, by decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, on the basis of the 1st and 3rd Main Directorates of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, the Main Directorate was created to ensure the design and construction of the Berkut system, which consisted of 14 construction and installation departments, 10 separate construction sites and five industrial enterprises of various profiles that carried out tasks for the construction of particularly important defense facilities.
Subsequently, all construction units that carried out the construction of particularly important defense facilities were subordinated to the Main Directorate of Special Construction and Military Construction Units of the USSR Ministry of Medium Engineering, which existed until 1954.
After this, this department was transformed into the Main Directorate of Special Construction under the Ministry of Installation and Construction Works of the USSR. Since 1981, this department has been resubordinated to the Council of Ministers of the USSR, and in this status it existed until the collapse of the USSR in 1991.
Criticism of military construction units within civilian ministries and its consequences
The very fact of the existence of military construction detachments as part of civilian ministries has more than once been criticized by senior military leaders, who considered such formations ineffective and even “illegal.”
Thus, in 1956, Defense Minister Georgy Zhukov and Chief of the General Staff Vasily Sokolovsky reported that “the use of military personnel in industry is a violation of the USSR Constitution, since, according to Article 132 of the Constitution, military service ... should take place in the ranks of the USSR Armed Forces, and not in construction organizations of civil ministries of the USSR."
In this regard, it is quite natural that there would be sharp dissatisfaction among military personnel assigned to work in military construction units and, in particular, in military construction detachments. They immediately realize their false position of being formally drafted into the ranks of the Soviet Army, but in fact being used outside the army as a labor force.
The facts show that these military personnel consider their employment in lieu of military service to be illegal, and many of them protest in all manner of forms, including open disobedience and desertion.
These theses were literally repeated in Decree of the President of the USSR dated November 15, 1990 No. UP-1048. And its operative part sounded a death chord for the military-construction complex:
“To disband in 1992 military construction detachments (units) working on the construction of facilitiesfor national economic purposes in civil ministriesand departmentsexcept for the USSR Ministry of Atomic Energy Industry, Ministry of Communications of the USSR, Rosvostokstroyand the Main Directorate of Special Construction under the Council of Ministers of the USSR.
In this regard, stop the callcitizens of the USSRfor real urgent military service to the specified military construction detachments (units) starting in the fall of 1991.
The number of military personnel released after the disbandment of military construction detachments (units)and military builders to be sent to staff military construction detachments (units) of the USSR Ministry of Defense».
And the province went to write” - in the throes of reform, all builders in uniform, without exception, were recognized as a harmful relic of Russia’s communist past.
But the complexity of building defense facilities on a commercial basis has increased by several orders of magnitude.
Torment for Spetsstroy
On July 16, 1997 it was formed federal Service special construction (Rosspetsstroy), heiress of history, and most importantly, the assets of the Main Directorate of Special Construction under the Ministry of Installation and Construction Works of the USSR.
On March 9, 2004, Rosspetsstroy was renamed the Federal Agency for Special Construction (Spetsstroy of Russia). The Regulations on the Agency were approved by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of August 16, 2004 No. 1084.
Serious questions to Spetsstroy, structurally assigned to the Ministry of Defense, appeared in 2015: in July, due to the collapse of a section of the barracks of the 242nd Airborne Training Center in Omsk, 24 servicemen were killed, and in November 2015, Vladimir Putin had to postpone the first history of the launch of the Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle from the Vostochny Cosmodrome. And then, the control point was equipped in a bunker unsuitable for this function.
Our leader extremely dislikes sloppiness. The competent authorities, including the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation, carried out appropriate checks and found out the following:
- Spetsstroy performs work at only 15-40% of the cost of concluded contracts, entrusting to third-party structures not only the bulk of the work, but also the creation of design estimates.
- In Vostochny alone there were more than 250 companies, many of which did not have the necessary competencies, equipment, or specialists.
The Ministry of Defense then began reform of the agency, which implied the liquidation of approximately half of the 18 Federal State Unitary Enterprises of Spetsstroy.
The reform began, but a year later there were no fewer complaints against builders. In October 2016, the Federal Antimonopoly Service found that FSUE Spetsstroyengineering had missed deadlines for completing work under government contracts totaling more than 150 billion rubles.
The Investigative Committee of Russia is opening criminal cases regarding non-payment of wages to construction workers at Vostochny and theft, the management of the Roscosmos state corporation constantly complains about the unsatisfactory quality of work, and the Ministry of Construction about the low financial discipline of the general contractor.
The General Staff of the RF Armed Forces was also dissatisfied with the results of Spetsstroy’s work: in early October, at one of the departmental meetings, it was said that only 11 out of 83 military facilities were behind schedule, and the condition of 61 was assessed as “critical.”
It should be recalled that in 2011, the then Director of the agency, Grigory Naginsky, with the assistance of the Minister of Defense Anatoly Serdyukov, literally “squeezed” Spetsstroy away from the military department, depriving it of a guaranteed annual profit of 130-150 billion rubles and, most importantly, depriving the military of the opportunity to work on the final result .
In this regard, it is not surprising that the first thing the military department did after the Decree of the President of Russia was issued was to deprive the leadership of Spetsstroy of the opportunity to somehow influence what was happening. After all, the largest plan for commissioning defense facilities since post-war times is under threat.
What will happen after Spetsstroy returns to its native military harbor? Will there be a revival of the Russian military-construction complex? Is not a fact.
Instead of Spetsstroy, eight federal state unitary enterprises will be created, which will be part of the armed forces and will be engaged in the construction of military facilities. Thus, all functions for the construction of facilities that ensure the country’s defense capability will be assigned directly to the Ministry of Defense, which will receive the agency’s assets. Deputy Minister of Defense for Cantonment Timur Ivanov will ensure preparations for liquidation and transfer of the functions of Spetsstroy to the Ministry of Defense.
Ivanov is Shoigu’s youngest deputy. Timur Ivanov became close to Sergei Shoigu during his work as Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Moscow Region in 2012, when the region was headed by Shoigu.
Ivanov was appointed general director of Oboronstroy (a subsidiary of JSC Garrison, owned by the Ministry of Defense) when Shoigu became Minister of Defense. Having completed several important assignments, he earned the minister's trust.
For example, under Ivanov, Oboronstroi regulated difficult situation with the construction company "SU-155", which violated the deadlines for the delivery of residential buildings for military personnel, in 2014, in three months, he built the Sevastopol Presidential Cadet School, and quickly completed the construction of the Patriot Park, the opening of which was attended by Vladimir Putin. This was in 2015. A little later, Putin awarded him the title “Honored Builder of the Russian Federation.”
Now it is Timur Ivanov who will have to oversee the work of the units that the Ministry of Defense will receive from Spetsstroy.
In the near future, the ministry will assess whether it needs all 18 federal state unitary enterprises and seven headquarters of Spetsstroy. It is possible that certain assets will be transferred to other federal bodies, for example the Ministry of Construction.
Conclusion
1. Military construction formations throughout the entire period of their existence are one of the most important basic elements ensuring the security of the state. However, only when they are part of the armed forces do they acquire a special status determined by the specifics of military service.
2. In 1949, a number of military construction formations acquired a special status, which was largely determined by the specifics of the facilities being constructed, which was enshrined at the level of national regulatory legal acts.
3. Currently, there are all the economic and legal prerequisites for resolving the issue of reviving the Russian military-construction complex.
Boris Skupov