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The online museum was created with the support of the Sharaf Rashidov International Foundation.

Sharaf Rashidov — an outstanding statesman, a famous writer who led the republic in extremely difficult years

The online museum was created with the support of the Sharaf Rashidov International Foundation.

Sharaf Rashidov — an outstanding statesman, a famous writer who led the republic in extremely difficult years

FIRST SECRETARY (1959 - 1964)

FIRST SECRETARY (1959 - 1964). UZBEKISTAN UNDER SHARAF RASHIDOV

By the time of his election, the first secretary of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan, Sharaf Rashidov, thanks to his previous managing experience, was already well aware of all the troubles and victories of his people, knew the peculiarities and potentials of different regions of the republic.
The main issue for him was the availability of water, without which it was impossible to raise agriculture and develop virgin lands.
"RASHIDOV'S LEADERSHIP IS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE MOST BENEFICIAL PAGES IN THE HISTORY OF UZBEKISTAN. IN THESE YEARS, ABOUT TWO MILLION HECTARES OF THE GOLODNAYA, JIZZAKH AND KARSHI STEPPES WERE TURNED INTO AGRICULTURAL LANDS. THE VIRGIN LAND BECAME A CASE STUDY FOR INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT OF DESERTS. LARGE IRRIGATION CANALS, CITIES AND TOWNS WERE BUILT, AND FARMS WERE ESTABLISHED. TO HAVE ACCESS TO WATER, RASHIDOV INITIATED THE CONSTRUCTION OF DOZENS OF LARGE AND SMALL RESERVOIRS IN THESE YEARS," wrote Mukhtar Ganiev, the author of the memoirs My Truth about Sharaf Rashidov.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE GOLODNAYA STEPPE

Sharaf Rashidov was so imbued with the ideas of developing virgin lands that when in 1960 the USSR authorities decided to finish work on the development of the Golodnaya Steppe, he categorically opposed it. When Moscow did not listen to him, Sharaf Rashidov and several other people from the government of Uzbekistan made efforts to meet with Khrushchev in person.
Initially, the head of the country supported his colleagues, maintaining that the development of the steppe takes too much money from the state – more than four billion roubles, while these resources could be used for other purposes. However, Sharaf Rashidov and his team objected that the Golodnaya Steppe could help hugely increase cotton production in the USSR, which meant new incomes to cover manyfold the costs, because cotton at that time was one of the important items exchanged for foreign currencies in the Soviet Union. As a result, Khrushchev was impressed with these words and changed his mind.

The requirements for the volumes of Uzbek cotton grew year after year. Khrushchev sought to "catch up and overtake America" and raised plans despite the drought. However, the country fulfilled its tasks from year to year: in 1961, 3,600,000 metric tonnes of cotton were harvested, in 1962 – 3,607,000 t, and in 1963 Uzbekistan broke the record and delivered 3,688,000 tonnes. Cotton growers were honoured throughout the country as heroes.

AMONG SHARAF RASHIDOV'S PRIORITIES IN HIS EARLY YEARS AS FIRST SECRETARY OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF UZBEKISTAN WAS MINING. HE INITIATED THE DEVELOPMENT OF A GOLD DEPOSIT IN MURUNTAU, WHICH WOULD LATER BECOME THE WORLD'S SECOND GOLDMINE BY PRODUCTION. IN ADDITION TO GOLD, THE REPUBLIC CONTINUED TO EXTRACT OIL, NATURAL GAS AND COAL, AND BEGAN TO EXTRACT URANIUM.
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