#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. In Norilsk, in the presence of distinguished guests, the opening ceremony of the stele took place in honor of the conferment of the City of Labor Valor honorary title. On the monument there is an image of the Norilsk coat of arms and the text of the Russian Federation president’s decree on conferring the title.
The solemn event began with the raising of the state flag of the Russian Federation, a copy of the Banner of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945, the flag of the three-time awarded Krasnoyarsk region, as well as the city of Norilsk, on the flag of which there is the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. The city received this award in 1971.
There are many events in Norilsk history that emphasize its uniqueness and special character. This was noted more than once in the Krasnoyarsk region’s governor Mikhail Kotyukov’s gratitude speech.
“Dear Norilsk residents, residents of our polar, harsh, but very resilient and beautiful city”, the region head addressed the ceremony participants. “Congratulations on the triple holiday: City Day, Metallurgist Day, Company Day! It is significant that on this date the monument is being opened in Norilsk, which has arisen here in pursuance of the country’s president decision to award Norilsk the honorary title of the City of Labor Valor. This monument is a sign of memory to the generations who, during the harsh years of the Great Patriotic War in the Arctic Circle, fought their battles on the nickel front and provided the metal that was so necessary and important for the Victory. Already in 1941, the first batches of nickel were used to make Soviet T-34 tanks, and by 1944, half of all domestic nickel was produced in Norilsk. The people who worked here in the most difficult conditions won their victories just like our soldiers on the front line. Norilsk did not flinch, did not break. Norilsk stood up to the enemy and today has become the largest city in the Russian Arctic. Now Norilsk is experiencing a rebirth. A comprehensive plan for the modernization of production, infrastructure, and the social sphere of the city is being implemented. Which means: Norilsk has not only a great history and a bright present, but also, most definitely, a confident future. And it is created by your hands”.
It is symbolic that people in different parts of our big country voted for Norilsk, which claimed the title of City of Labor Valor: Muscovites, St. Petersburg, Saratov, Penza, and the Krasnoyarsk region residents. Norilsk’s right to bear the title City of Labor Valor is absolutely fair, and it is completely reasonable that such a decision was approved by the president of Russia, emphasized Mikhail Kotyukov.
The stela is a tetrahedral thirty-meter monument with a spire and two large pylons. The pylons are made in a combination: on one side they have multimedia panels – LED screens, on which archival footage will be broadcast, indicating the labor prowess of Norilsk residents; on the other side, they are lined with stainless metal sheets with fragments of archival photographs from the history of the city. Also on the sheets there is a presidential decree on conferring the title and the city’s coat of arms.
And now this complex has become an active facility.
“Today is a very solemn and exciting day for us. It will certainly go down in the history of Norilsk, the Krasnoyarsk region, and the entire country”, said the city head Dmitry Karasev. “Today we are unveiling a stele in memory of the labor valor of Norilsk residents during the Great Patriotic War, of the heroism that brought our Victory closer. Thanks to those people, the foundation for the Norilsk development was laid and strengthened. And today we are continuing the glorious work of our predecessors. I am confident that the memorial stele will become a symbol of the unity of the past, present and future of our city, and together we will make every effort to ensure that Norilsk develops and prospers”.
Senior vice president of Nornickel, Nornickel’s Norilsk Division head, Nornickel’s Polar Branch director Nikolay Utkin also spoke about the importance of the connection between generations and the high bar that Norilsk holds.
“Today we are participants in a significant event in the history of Norilsk. The honorary title City of Labor Valor is, first of all, a tribute of contemporaries’ respect to the people of the generation that forged the Victory. To those builders who built industrial enterprises, to those miners and metallurgists who worked for them. To the people who built the city. Today Norilsk has set a high bar with the renovation tasks that we are solving. And thanks to this, we will become the center of the Russian Arctic. I am sure that the development of the Nornickel company, which today, thanks to the of non-ferrous metals supply, solves key problems in the Russian Federation, such as the development of scientific technologies, meeting the demand of mechanical engineering and many other industries, as well as the modernization of the company’s own production facilities, will allow us to move forward”, assured Nikolay Utkin.
A documentary film specially created for the opening of the stele told about the labor exploits of Norilsk residents during the Great Patriotic War. From July 20th it will be on display every day, and everyone who comes to the memorial will be able to watch it.
At the end of the celebration, the ceremonial military crew and honored guests laid flowers at the stele Norilsk – the City of Labor Valor.
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Text: Larisa Fedishina, Photo: Nikolay Shchipko
