Nikolai Konstantinovich Baibakov (russian: Никола́й Константи́нович Байбако́в; 6 March 1911 – 31 March 2008) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

statesman and economist who served as Minister of Oil Industry from 1944 to 1946 and 1948 to 1955 and Chairman of the State Planning Committee from 1955 to 1957 and 1965 to 1985. He was awarded a Hero of Socialist Labour in 1981.

Biography

Born in Sabunchu, near Baku,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

, Baibakov finished secondary school in 1928 and entered the Azerbaijan Oil and Chemistry Institute, from which he graduated in 1931 as a

mining engineer Mining in the engineering discipline is the extraction of minerals from underneath, open pit, above or on the ground. Mining engineering is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, and ...

. In 1935, he was drafted into the

armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

. After completing his military service, he was appointed chief of the oilfield production department in an industrial complex in the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

. Later he was promoted to chief engineer, then general director. He was responsible for evacuating oil industry facilities to the eastern regions during the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing co ...

. Baibakov was appointed to the Narkomat as Minister of Oil Industry in 1944, serving until 1946. Because of his success in the planning of the oil industry sector and experience in economics, he was appointed as Chairman of the State Planning Committee, commonly known as

Gosplan The State Planning Committee, commonly known as Gosplan ( rus, Госплан, , ɡosˈpɫan), was the agency responsible for central economic planning in the Soviet Union. Established in 1921 and remaining in existence until the dissolution o ...

, in 1955. He left the post in 1957 but returned to it in 1965. After stepping down in 1985, he continued to work as a state councillor in the

Presidium A presidium or praesidium is a council of executive officers in some political deliberative assembly, assemblies that collectively administers its business, either alongside an individual President (government title), president or in place of one ...

of the

Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...

until 1988. Then he was appointed head of the oil and gas section of the Academic Board of the Oil and Gas Institute with the

Russian Academy of Science The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...

s. He died in 2008 in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Honours and awards

* Hero of Socialist Labour (1981) *

Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" The Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" (russian: Орден «За заслуги перед Отечеством», ''Orden "Za zaslugi pered Otechestvom"'') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation. It was instituted on 2 March 1994 by ...

, 2nd class (March 7, 2006) - for outstanding services to the state * Six

Orders of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration ...

Order of the October Revolution The Order of the October Revolution (russian: Орден Октябрьской Революции, ''Orden Oktyabr'skoy Revolyutsii'') was instituted on October 31, 1967, in time for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was conferr ...

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the ...

, twice * Lenin Prize (1963) - for the discovery and development of gas-condensate fields * Honorary Member of the

Russian Academy of Natural Sciences The Russian Academy of Natural Sciences ( Russian: Российская академия естественных наук) is a Russian non-governmental organization founded on August 31 1990 in Moscow in the former Soviet Union, following a de ...

(RANS, established in 1996 was awarded the Medal of the Academy) * Academician of the Academy of Cosmonautics * Laureate of the "Russian National Olympus" * Honorary Citizen of Ishimbai (Bashkortostan) - as an active participant in the development of Bashkir oil industry (made with such an initiative in 1940) *

Istiglal Order Istiglal Order ( az, Istiqlal ordeni), is the highest supreme order of the Republic of Azerbaijan, along with Heydar Aliyev Order. presented by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Istiglal means ''Sovereignty'' in Azerbaijani. History ...

(Azerbaijan)

References

External links

Inside Gosplan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baibakov, Nikolai 1911 births 2008 deaths 20th-century Russian engineers Engineers from Baku People from Baku Governorate Honorary Members of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences Heroes of Socialist Labour Lenin Prize winners Recipients of the Istiglal Order Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd class Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Azerbaijani people of Russian descent Soviet economists Marxian economists Soviet engineers Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery