V. I.

Lenin

262

To:   THE CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION OF THE COAL INDUSTRY

Glavugol, S.E.C.

Please let me know without delay how far the things have gone with the purchase abroad of coal-cutting
machines for the Donets Basin.

Comrade Smolyaninov has informed me that he has established from his telephone conversations with Comrade
Grigoryev that there are some doubts at Glavugol about the proven advisability of making extensive use of
coal-cutting machines in the extraction of coal, or at any rate,
that the production effect expected by Comrade Pyatakov
from the use of coal-cutting machines is exaggerated.

Please let me have absolutely precise and definite information about Glavugol’s opinion on the advisability of
coal-cutting machines in the extraction of coal in the
Donets Basin, and on the effect their use in production can
have on boosting output.

Also let me know where, and where best, coal-cutting machines can be bought—in Germany or in Britain, and
how soon this can be done.

V. Ulyanov (Lenin )

Chairman, Council of People’s Commissars

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