When Russia, after the collapse of the Soviet Union and poor economic situation in the 1990s, had to reconsolidate its assets on Svalbard, Pyramiden was the least important to run. The island where Pyramiden, Longyearbyen, Ny-Ålesund, Barentsburg, Grumant and Svea are situated. The analysis criticized Norwegian authorities for trying to seek “absolute national jurisdiction over Spitsbergen archipelago and the adjacent 200 nautical miles maritime boundary around.” Spitsbergen is the common name Russia uses for the archipelago, although geographically it is the name of the largest of all islands on Svalbard. A year ago, a Russian Defense Ministry report listed Norway’s Svalbard policy as potential risk of war with NATO. Control over Svalbard in a war scenario could be important for denial of forces to the important patrol areas for the strategic nuclear submarines based on the Kola Peninsula.Ī foothold on Svalbard is for Moscow also important in a larger Arctic strategy. Though, both Norway and Russia are highly aware of the archipelago’s strategic location. Many came from coal mining areas in Eastern Ukraine and Southwestern Siberia. Despite privileges like cultural palace and sport facilities, life up here, halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole could be hard mid-winter when there was no daylight at all and freezing cold wind.ĭemilitarized zone in a strategic location War-paintings, or not: Svalbard is a demilitarized zone. Most things, by-the-way, are the world’s northernmost in Pyramiden the ballet studio, theatre, cinema, beer pub, hospital and so on.Īt the height in the late 1980s, more than 1,000 people lived in Pyramiden. Like the Palace of Culture and the swimming pool. Many of the monumental buildings here at 79 degrees north were erected in the late 1980s. Moscow’s Arctic dream was mirrored in Pyramiden. A year after the 27th Congress, in 1987, the General Secretary gave his famous Murmansk speech where he highlighted huge potentials in the Arctic. But he sure had ambitions to conquer the Arctic with extraction of natural resources, industry and shipping. Moscow’s Arctic dream was mirrored in Pyramiden Still, Gorbachev never got a chance to visit Pyramiden.
That was the first congress presided over by Mikhail Gorbachev as General Secretary of the Central Committee. Hammer and Sickle ornaments and the Soviet star are used as decoration around the town. In a remote room inside the Palace of Culture are a few empty bottles of the cheap domestic Rossiya- and Priviet vodka.Ī book with the transcripts from the 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union lays on a desk. The smell of papirosa, likely the strongest cigarette ever made, stains on the indoor walls.
Best of all, its not an artificial scenery aimed for some kind of movie-production. Walking Pyramiden today gives you a glimpes into the Soviet-style nostalgia, outdoor as well as indoor. With that, only Norwegian and Soviet communities remained on the archipelago. The same year, a Norwegian state-owned company bought Svea coalmine from the Swedes. The Soviet Union bought Pyramiden in 1927 from the Swedes, just like its state company Arktikugol (Arctic coal) bought Barentsburg coalmine further southwest in Isfjorden from the Dutch in 1934. In the 1920s, onshore, that meant coal mining. The 1920 Svalbard Treaty recognizes the sovereignty of Norway over the archipelago, but all signatories were given equal rights to engage in commercial activities on the islands. What could be taken out from beneath the permafrost inside the steep mountain was anyway just a tiny thousandth of the coal extracted in the Kuzbass region in southwestern Siberia.ĭigging for coal gave the Soviet Union a foothold on Svalbard. Although not stated publicly, Kremlin’s main idea with the settlement was not primarily to get coal.
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