Ex-Worker Recounts Ufa Lamp Plant Collapse

In the summer of 2013, Ufa resident Oleg Buter climbed onto a chimney of the Ufa Electric Lamp Plant (UELZ) in protest — he had not been paid for over six months. According to him, 800 other workers were in the same situation. The plant had already stopped operating, management had changed several times, but the result was the same: no money. So Oleg climbed the chimney. He had already lost his family and was left not only without money but also without housing. Years later, UFA1.RU tracked Oleg down. We learned what happened and, most importantly, what is happening now. Below is Oleg«s personal account of how it all unfolded.

«I lost everything»

We are publishing Oleg Buter«s story as his personal opinion on what happened. For more on the plant»s history, read the material on UFA1.RU.

I have no faith that anything will change [from talking to a journalist]. I have no faith in the authorities or in justice.

I«m a stove mason, I worked on fire-related jobs for 8 years, I built those stoves where KAMAZ trucks were unloaded. I was insulted, wronged, I was forced to climb that chimney, but I got no result, even though I came down for television and radio. The directors promised back then that everything would be settled, even a shot of cognac — I don»t know if it was together with the money or instead of it, but they invited me into the office and brought me a shot.

Do you understand that this plant [UELZ] was the most, most, most profitable in Russia. When people in the nineties suffered from lack of money, salaries and so on, this plant always worked, people had everything. Do you understand? What self-sufficiency it had! Who needed this «Lampochka» to be closed? Our product was cheap, cost 9 rubles, now it«s 50 — but from a different plant.

I was such a person for the plant, who kept it going, built the furnaces, sawed every little brick. It was +1450 degrees [Celsius, 2642°F], I just climbed in there and repaired those furnaces. Who can I explain this to, who will understand, who needs it? Nobody needs it. There will never be a victory. Only the system can win, we can«t.

Since then I«ve forgotten about it [the unpaid wages]. I figured the state probably needed it more. Our plant was wonderful, and it was the best not only in Bashkiria but in Russia. Our lightbulb was the cheapest and the most comfortable.

I was sent on a business trip near Moscow to build a plant (Oleg declined to specify which one. — Ed. note). I arrived and left because I didn«t like it. I thought they just wanted to liquidate our Ufa plant so there would be some plant near Moscow. They still produce lightbulbs there.

And at the Ufa plant, the machines from 1947 are still standing! That plant could have lasted another 300 years. We had quality lightbulbs and tungsten for them. And now what? A lightbulb works for two weeks and burns out. What do we do now? We laugh at our own production!

I suffered so much for the plant because I worked there. Do you think I climbed the chimney for nothing? It was emotions, it was injustice, it was unworthy of a human being. Now I«m bankrupt, with a debt of one and a half million [rubles, about $17,000 at current rates]. I just deflated.

I had a profession, earnings, and everything. But in the end I lost my wife, my children, I lost everything! I spoke about this on the chimney, but no one heard me. I lost everything. Now I«m nobody and they call me nothing.

It«s unpleasant to remember all this, it»s all down to zero. I went through so many courts. They even sent me to Samara, as if they could clarify something there (according to court records, Oleg himself filed a lawsuit at the place of registration of the company that owned the plant, and his claim was satisfied. — Ed. note).

Do you know how many people were cheated there? Several hundred! We still communicate with them, but we find nothing. There«s no money. No one, not a single person, received anything. We are now ordinary peasants. I»m the very last person who quit the electric lamp plant. I loved that plant, worked there, produced lightbulbs, and they just [cheated me].

I«ll tell you the truth, but do with it what you want. There is neither honor nor conscience. Now I [don»t care at all] about this democracy. I earn money now with my own back and no one will help me! I don«t even work, I just beg, just odd jobs. I earn a bit here, a bit there, and that»s it.

By the time I retired, I had 14 years of hazardous work. I worked on Elbrus, mined tungsten, worked in a mine and on furnaces, worked at +1450 degrees. Can you imagine what that«s like?

My pension now is 10,400 rubles [about $120 at current rates]! That«s a laughable price my Pension Fund assigned me for 14 years of hazardous work. I retired specifically due to hazardous conditions. I don»t understand. Now I«m an old man, my lower back, knees, and feet hurt, but I»m forced to work because those 10,400 are no help at all.

I won«t tell you how much I earn now, but it»s enough. I can«t do otherwise. Even if I have to crawl, I»ll try to earn. No other way. We«ll only survive like this. I work «off the books». But I»m a professional, so I«m in demand. It»s a shame for the state and society that I have to deceive it, but I have a moral right to do so. Not to deceive is more costly for yourself. All my life I was law-abiding.

Why should I be deceived? That«s a question to ask the director of «Service». If you can catch him. They didn»t catch him back then. When I was sitting in the Investigative Committee, the investigator told me: «If I don«t put this director in prison, then they»ll put me in prison». That«s what he said! But I haven»t seen anyone imprisoned.

I«ve said everything. Even if Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin] calls — I»ll tell him too. I«m pouring out my soul now because I felt bad back then. I went through all this, all our guys went through it.

I had a best friend — the chief engineer of workshop No. 4. He loved that workshop so much, I can«t even put it into words. It was his brainchild. He watched over every furnace, every machine. Can you imagine what it»s like to saw, what a machine that pulls out a lightbulb is? He was a very splendid engineer. After I climbed the chimney, he told me: «Oleg, the fact that you climbed up — it«s [nothing]». He thought it was all useless.

The President of the Republic of Bashkortostan (at that time, the post was held by Rustem Khamitov. — Ed. note) said: «All workers receive their salaries on time, but why is it that someone might not receive it on time?» That was said about us!

Why was «Lampochka» eventually closed? Someone needed it closed. Our Electric Lamp Plant was wonderful and respectable!

It«s a shame.