Filimonchik, S. N. THE HISTORY OF KARELLES TRUST. Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2026;48(4):85–93. DOI: 10.15393/uchz.art.2026.1323


Russian history

THE HISTORY OF KARELLES TRUST

Filimonchik
S. N. 		Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Keywords:
Karelles Trust
logging
sawmilling
timber rafting
timber export
New Economic Policy
NEP
forced industrialization		 Summary: The article aims to analyze the development and summarize the experience of the Karelles Trust, the leading association in the forestry industry of Karelia between 1922 and 1937. Under the New Economic Policy (NEP), the trust rapidly expanded timber harvesting and lumber production and began modernizing its sawmills, which enabled it to rank second in the USSR in timber exports. However, exports were unprofitable, which increased dependence on state subsidies. The transfer of the trust under Soviet Union jurisdiction in 1930 ensured the fulfilment of a task critical to national interests, which was to provide reliable supplies of sawn timber for export, but cemented the raw-material orientation of production. The trust secured its workforce through provision of paid labor service by collective farmers, the migration of seasonal workers from outside Karelia, and the recruitment of skilled workers from the U.S. and Canada. In the mid-1930s, there remained a high proportion of manual labor, seasonal work, weak transportation infrastructure, and limited social security. Dissatisfaction with those conditions resulted in massive turnover of the workforce. The establishment of a public food service system and the expansion of barracks construction reduced the momentum of protest caused by harsh working and living conditions. At the same time, there were positive effects from the use of bow saws, partial mechanization of timber hauling, and the gradual formation of a permanent workforce. However, mass repression undermined these favorable developments and disrupted production. The period before the war saw the intensified role of the Gulag in the logging industry of Karelia.



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