# ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. Pyotr Lomako held the post of Minister of Non-Ferrous Metallurgy for almost half a century. In the 1970s – early 1980s, the main concern of the minister was Nadezhda metallurgical plant and the redistributions associated with the plant.
In 1968, Lomako was in Norilsk in a group of major leaders led by Chairman of the Council of Ministers Alexey Kosygin. The result of this working visit was the technical assignment for the design of the Second Nickel (Nadezhdinsky) plant.
In 1972, when Nadezhda just started to be built, Lomako visited the commissioned Komsomolsky mine, Octyabrsky mine which was under construction, and the Nickel plant, which was celebrating its 30th anniversary.
The minister’s entourage noted that when Lomako arrived in Norilsk, he walked through factories, workshops and always recognized someone from the foremen and workers. He often called his acquaintance aside or invited him to his place to talk in more detail.
When in July 1981 the acceptance certificate for the second stage of the Nadezhdinsky metallurgical plant was signed, the minister inspected the combine’s oldest enterprise – the Norilsk ore-processing plant and the Talnah one, which was put into operation.
By tradition, the distinguished guest examined not only the concentrating process, but also looked into the working dining room, talked with the concentrators. Boris Kolesnikov, director of the Norilsk Mining and Metallurgical Combine, later recalled that the Norilsk people always felt the support, attention and help of the minister from the Guinness Book of Records.
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Text: Varvara Sosnovskaya, Photo: Nornickel Polar Division archive
