Сonsequences of industrial modernization in the European north-east of the USSR

Political repressions unleashed by the Soviet leadership during Stalin's period have led to the creation of a powerful industrial complex - GULAG. The economic activity of GULAG cannot be estimated unequivocally.Activities of the victimized population produced fulfillment of really innovative projects at the world level for that time: oil mines were the first in the USSR to be built in Yarega, extraction of radium from radium-gearing waters in the district of Vodny was organized. Primitive methods were often used for creation of ambitious and high-tech projects, the share of manual labor being great.Forced migration brought about growth in population in the region, and accelerated growth in the urban population. But the lack of scientific forecasting of the urbanization process has created a serious modern problem - the need for resettlement of people from the North.The industrial processes fulfilled by GULAG were accompanied by the development of the system of training skilled personnel. At the same time, wasteful squandering of the skilled prisoners’ abilities and talents occurred in GULAG camps: up to 2/3 of the prison term, the engineers, technologists, research workers had to work hard as unskilled workers.The results of economic activities of the camps have led to the modernization phenomena in the economy of the region - a new advanced for that time industry, transport system, social infrastructure have been created. But totalitarian regime did not allow to introduce elements of classical liberalism in the modernization process. Industrial modernization was realized at the expense of forced labour of disenfranchised people in the absence of democratic values. The upgrade was vague and truncated.