Completing the Circle

arkhangelsk photographer and journalist Nikolai Gernet traveled back to the Kanin Peninsula to visit the nomadic reindeer herding families he wrote about in the Jan/Feb 2009 issue of Russian Life. He took along copies of the magazine to show the families what thousands of readers beyond Russia’s shores read about them. Then Gernet sent us these pictures to complete the circle.

After we received the photos, we asked Gernet how the remote, northern Arkhangelsk region is being affected by the global economic meltdown.

Arkhangelsk used to be called the “All Union Lumber Mill,” since it was the largest source of lumber exports in the former USSR... the forests remain the foundation for the economy here and comprise 51% of turnover and 84% of exports for the region. More than half of the residents of Arkhangelsk region are employed in the sector...

With the decline in demand for building products in the U.S., Canada and Europe, factories have stopped working, and numerous enterprises are having trouble meeting their debt obligations...

Take the example of STsBK, which primarily produces unbleached cellulose... China outlawed plastic bags in the summer 2008, necessitating the production of brown paper bags and creating a huge export market for STsBK... But, with the crisis, world demand has fallen, along with prices for unbleached cellulose... So the decline in China’s sale of consumer technology has led to cutbacks at Russia’s second largest cellulose factory, by about 30%...

There have been layoffs at enterprises, though managers are trying to maintain skeleton crews, or are asking workers to cut back hours...

Interestingly, the crisis in the wood products sphere may lead to unexpected problems. Cutbacks in production means factories have been emitting less warm water into rivers, which might lead to ice damming in spring, and a consequent rise in river levels...

Forestry enterprises are working at only 65% capacity, transport firms at just 50%, agricultural firms at 70%, and construction firms at 55%... Perhaps the only sphere which has not been affected is military enterprises.

Finally, according to the Ministry of Regional Development, Arkhangelsk region has joined the list of regions where the poverty level is on the increase.