The North-East of Russia in the 1990s: Deindustrialization on the Periphery of Russia
Basing on the theoretical achievements of the predecessors and on the diverse source material, the authors identify the prerequisites that determined both general and specific features of deindustrialization in the North-East of Russia where the mining complex played the main role in the economic development and social and domestic development of Russians. These prerequisites include: the property reform, the state's withdrawal from financing the industries that extract natural resources, the transition to a new form of investment in the gold mining industry in the North-East in the form of a “gold loan”, the reliance of both the Center and the local government on foreign investment, the refusal of the reformist government to industrial policy on the periphery. The first results of the impact of corporatization on the state of the mining industries are identified and characterized by concrete examples: the decline in gold production, the reduction in the number of employees, and the closure of entire villages. On the periphery, there was a clear link between the liquidation of mining and processing plants and decentralization, the emergence of private subsoil users and bankruptcy of a number of enterprises after their corporatization, the decline in mining exploration, obsolescence of equipment, depletion of deposits of gold and other non-ferrous metals explored in Soviet times, lack of funds of small and medium-sized owners to upgrade the technical base. The decision of the Magadan regional administration to profit from the establishment of jewelry production is a vivid example of the declining role of the gold mining industry in ensuring national security. It is established that among the main factors that determined the social manifestations of deindustrialization were the political decisions of the Government in the early 1990s in relation to the north-eastern periphery under the influence of the IMF and other international financial institutions.