V. I. Lenin

Source: ru:PSS/v52; en:CW/CW45;es:MT
Translated: machine translation (DeepSeek) from the Russian; AI-translated.

2. IV. 1921

Comrade Serebrovsky:

I am sending you some material on the oil concessions. I wanted to send it with Comrade Kaminsky, but unfortunately he had to be treated here because of a serious illness.

It is extremely important that the Baku comrades should adopt the correct view of concessions (the view approved by the Tenth Party Congress, i.e., binding on Party members). It is highly desirable to give one-quarter of Baku (or even two-quarters) to concessionaires (on condition of assistance from abroad, both in food and equipment, over and above the amounts needed for the concessionaire*).

Only then can we hope to catch up with (and later outstrip) modern advanced capitalism in the remaining three-quarters (or two-quarters). Any other view amounts to the most harmful nonsense—“we’ll down them with our caps”, “we’ll manage by ourselves”, etc., which is all the more dangerous the more often it is disguised in “purely communist” garb.

If in Baku there are still any traces (even small ones) of these most harmful views and prejudices (among workers and intellectuals), write to me at once: do you undertake to smash these prejudices completely yourselves and secure the most loyal implementation of the Congress decision (in favour of concessions), or do you need my help? Mark it well for yourselves and for everybody: “Concessions are highly desirable. Nothing is more harmful or more fatal for communism than communist conceit—we’ll manage by ourselves.”

Now that we have Batum, we must make every effort to speed up the exchange of oil and kerosene abroad for equipment.

A certain measure of independence is needed for the Baku area for this purpose. If you do not have it, telegraph exactly, and we shall give it to you.188

Formulate precise proposals—send them to the Council of Labour and Defence by telegraph and by post. A regional economic centre is needed, responsible for Baku plus Batum, etc., conducting business independently, quickly, without red tape.

We cannot help you from here; we ourselves are poor. You must help us by buying everything needed from abroad in exchange for oil and its products.

I await your reply: a short one by telegraph (“received letter of 2/IV, there are prejudices about concessions, they are difficult (or easy) to overcome, regarding commodity exchange with abroad and the regional centre we shall do or are doing such and such”) and a detailed one by post.

Proper relations with the Council of Labour and Defence are absolutely essential. That is the main thing.

One more question: is the oil question in Baku being correctly posed from the standpoint of co-ordinating the various branches of the national economy? For it is a very rich region: forests, fertile (when irrigated) land, etc. Are we pumping water (with the oil) and not using this water for irrigation, which would yield gigantic crops of hay, rice, cotton? Are we not using the “nord” (north wind) for wind engines? But the main thing, of course, is food and irrigation.

Can the oil industry be developed without developing irrigation and agriculture around Baku? Is anyone thinking about this and working on it properly? What about the English irrigation plan?

With communist greetings,

Lenin

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Sent to Baku

First published in 1932

in Lenin Miscellany XX

Printed from the manuscript