Building the future, remember the past

The main asset of a company with almost a century of history is the people who created and are creating its glory. Moscow Metrostroy remembers and honors them.

In honor of the first Metro Builder's Day in Russia, the now traditional meeting of the descendants of outstanding metro builders with the General Director of Mosmetrostroy JSC Sergei Zhukov took place. The evening passed in a solemn and festive friendly atmosphere. There were many warm words and memories from children and grandchildren about their outstanding ancestors.

The event was held for the first time last fall. Let us remind you that the idea to hold the meeting arose in the process of preparation for the 90th anniversary of Mosmetrostroy. It was then that the Veterans Council, the press service, the personnel and social development department purposefully began to work to find the descendants of outstanding metro builders.

On October 2, 12 descendants of nine Metrostroy chiefs, six descendants of pioneer builders, heroes of the USSR and socialist labor, and invited metro builders gathered in the Administration building on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. In his welcoming speech, Sergei Anatolyevich spoke about the current state of affairs in the company, presenting in detail the ongoing projects and planned development prospects. He noted how important it was for the Moscow Metrostroy that Vladimir Putin established this year’s Metro Builder’s Day, dedicated to the company’s birthday and dedicated to all metro builders in Russia. He also presented the guests with a model of the monument, which is planned to be installed in the Moscow metro park near the Sokolniki station.

– We have a lot of work ahead, new tasks and challenges. One of the most important, for me personally, is the erection of a monument to the first metro builders. The concept of the monument has been approved, the model is ready,” noted Sergei Zhukov. –The main idea of ​​the sculpture is to glorify the heroic work of the first stage builders. In the foreground, two workers are carved in the face: a pioneer builder working with a pick, and a modern metro builder with a jackhammer. On the reverse side there is a metro map of the 1930s, as well as reliefs of the most beautiful stations.

The famous metro builder, now the chairman of the All-Russian public organization of Heroes of Labor and laureates of state awards “Labor Valor of Russia”, Hero of Socialist Labor Alexey Levin, was invited to the event. The management of the Moscow Metrostroy solemnly awarded him the sign “Honorary Worker of Mosmetrostroy”.

Afterwards, Deputy General Director Oleg Melnikov took the floor. He presented a unique museum exhibit - a “time capsule”, placed in a case in the shape of a jackhammer back in 1964.

“This is a message to descendants, written by the metro builders of the 1960s, your great-grandfathers, fathers,” he addressed the guests. “In it, they solemnly pass the baton of generations to young workers, instruct new generations to develop the patriotism, initiative, and perseverance inherent in metro builders.

Those gathered looked with interest at the signatures of famous metro builders Vasily Polezhaev, Tatyana Fedorova, Yuri Koshelev, Evgeny Dolmatovsky, Heroes of War and Labor.

Many of the descendants were born after the departure of their heroic ancestors, the more valuable it was for them to come to this meeting.

– I want to thank all of you for preserving the memory. Mostly I would like to listen, because it so happens that I was born a year before my grandfather died. And therefore, this event is a return of memory not only for the organization, it is a return of memory to the family,” said Daria Abakumova, the granddaughter of one of the founders and second head of Metrostroy, Yegor Abakumov.

Over tea, the heirs shared memories and family legends about Metrostroy for more than two hours.

The activists of the Council of War and Labor Veterans, with the support of the leadership of Mosmetrostroy, assisted the relatives of the Hero of the Soviet Union, the pioneer metro builder Alexander Morukhov in the repair and improvement of his burial place at the Cherkizovsky cemetery. Alexander Sergeevich is the only hero of the Soviet Union, a submariner of the Black Sea Fleet, who worked at Metrostroy for more than 43 years. He received the title of hero in 1944 for saving a submarine. Three busts of Morukhov were installed in Crimea: in the military-historical museum of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, on the territory of the 247th separate division of the Black Sea Fleet submarines in Balaklava and in the Balaklava underground museum complex. In 1937–1939, 1946–1986, he worked at SMU-4 of Metrostroy as a mechanic, mechanic, shift engineer, and head of a mechanical shop. For more than 20 years he headed the party organization SMU-4.