Name Ustim Genrikhovich Shteiman well known in Sochi. He devoted more than half a century of his working life to tea growing. He went from an ordinary worker at the Dagomys state farm to the general director of the Krasnodarchay association, and then to an advisor to the Minister of Agriculture and Food of the USSR. Hero of Socialist Labor, awarded three Orders of Lenin, Honored Agronomist of the Russian Federation... Since 1998, Ustim Genrikhovich has been the President of the Russian Association of Tea and Coffee Producers (Roschaykofe), and since 2007, an Honorary Citizen of Sochi.
As President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin signed an order to reward Shteiman with gratitude for his great contribution to the development of the food industry and many years of conscientious work, and recently, as Prime Minister, he awarded him a certificate of honor. Ustim Genrikhovich dedicated his new visit to the land of magnolias to the realization of a long-standing dream...
THE NORTHERNEST IN THE WORLD…
“At one time,” recalls Shteiman, “I created “Tea Houses” here, which became a local landmark. They were visited by heads of state and government, prominent cultural and artistic figures. True, today the houses are no longer what they used to be. The flavor of Russian national tradition has given way to international etiquette. And as the president of Roschaykofe, I really want to return the emphasis on Russian samovars, Krasnopolyansky honey, Kuban pies and the Krasnodar Tea brand... So that any foreign guest can say with delight: “The Russian spirit is here, it smells like Russia!” True, soon only fairy tales will be told.
– Tea is a child of the subtropics, however, like in a fairy tale, it has taken root in our cold country...
– Thanks to the enthusiastic peasant Ioann Antonovich Koshman, who in 1901 planted a plantation of 800 bushes brought from Georgia in the village of Solokhaul on the banks of the Shakhe River at an altitude of 500 meters above sea level. At the beginning of the last century, many peasants worked near Batumi, in Chakvi, on the first tea plantations created in Georgia on the territory of the Russian Empire. The presence of tea-suitable yellow soils (krasnozems) in the Sochi district was established in the late 90s of the last century.
– But why did Koshman need to move from Georgia to Russia?
“He was a peasant, but not a “poorly educated ignoramus in bast shoes,” but a real ascetic and promoter of tea. Having selected seeds and seedlings, Ivan Antonovich transported them from Chakvi to these regions. He chose the right piece of land and established the first Russian tea plantation, which still exists today, on an area of 1300 square meters. One funny incident is connected with it, which happened in the post-war years, when the mountain villages of the Lazarevsky district began to be populated by settlers from the Bryansk region. I remember that one such person was allocated the Koshmanovsky plot. All the tea was instantly uprooted and corn was planted. But instead of corn, tea came again! The migrant even went to complain...
– When did Russian tea begin to conquer the domestic market?
– In 1905, Koshman demonstrated his tea at an agricultural exhibition and at the Russian Riviera exhibition in St. Petersburg. Sold at a ruble per pound, the domestic product quickly found demand and was highly valued by tea traders. But the tsarist government was not interested in its own raw material base, because the largest taxes came precisely from tea imports. And yet, in 1910, at the Sochi Agricultural Exhibition, Koshman demonstrated samples of ready-made Russian tea. He produced approximately 50 kilograms of dry leaf on his plot. The Soviet government treated the tea grower with great respect. The first industrial plantations of Krasnodar tea with a total area of 150 hectares were laid in the Adler and Lazarevsky districts in 1936, a year after the death of 97-year-old Ioann Antonovich. In the post-war years, specialized tea state farms were created here and two tea factories were built. And soon tea became the leading industrial agricultural crop in the Sochi region: its bushes covered the mountain slopes from Adler to Tuapse with a continuous delicate light green carpet.
– Are there any plantings more northern than in Solokhaul?
– Goytkh is in Adygea, but they have no industrial significance.
WHITE STRIP
– Ustim Genrikhovich, how did fate bring you to Sochi? I know that you were born in the Ukrainian city of Berdichev...
– This was in 1920, and in 1941 he graduated from the biology department of the Teachers’ Institute in Ukraine, but did not have time to pass the state exams. He served throughout the war in the mountain rifle units of the internal troops of the NKVD. They also fought with the famous Edelweiss division and participated in other special operations. I have military awards - two orders, seventeen medals...
– And after demobilization?
– After demobilization in 1947 – the 1st Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee on Agriculture. And I decided to go to the Timiryazev Agricultural Academy. He graduated with honors and was a Michurin personal scholarship recipient. I stayed in graduate school, but asked to be assigned to production. That’s how I ended up in the Krasnodar region. He went through all the stages: he was a worker, a foreman, a manager, a chief agronomist, a director, and then a general director.
– They say they didn’t agree to the prefix “general” for a long time?
- Then, in 1972, there were only two general directors in the USSR - in the Krasnodar Tea association and in the Leningrad company Leto, which specialized in fruits and vegetables. I was persuaded to become a “general” by the first secretary of the regional party committee Zolotukhin and the chairman of the regional executive committee Medunov, who specially came to my farm. “Let’s better remain just the director of the state farm,” I tell them. And Zolotukhin answered me: “But you don’t know what kind of fool they will send you as a leader!” What can I say?! But I achieved at the Ministry that, in addition to the duties of the general director, I also retained the position of director of the state farm.
– The main directions in your work then were increasing productivity and new technologies. How did it happen that the fame of Dagomys tea growers thundered throughout the world?
“We introduced irrigation to tea cultivation for the first time and raised water to a height of 300 meters. The plant itself gave a signal when to turn on the irrigation system. Full automation! We were even awarded special certificates and medals from the World Irrigation Congress, and our experience began to be actively used in other countries. I made a special trip to Kenya...
The introduction of small-scale mechanization is our second achievement. We designed our own manual tea picking machines: easier than the Japanese ones! Mechanized assembly does not lead to a deterioration in product quality. This is a misconception. You just need to precisely match all the technology to the car. The main thing here is a rhythmic, coordinated process! As a result, we reached 10 thousand tons of Krasnodar tea leaves. And when I started, there were only 2 thousand tons.
BLACK LINE
– The market economy knocked Krasnodarchay off its leadership pedestal. And among Fortune’s favorites unexpectedly were “May Tea”, “Orimi Trade”, “Grand”, “Golden Elephant” - companies that started everything almost from scratch. How can this be explained? 
– The misconception of many specialized managers who believed that Krasnodar tea will always enjoy enormous success and that no special efforts need to be made for this. When the practice of government procurement of tea ceased to exist and market relations emerged, no one began to purchase, for example, Georgian tea. Everyone knew about its low quality. And they preferred Indian, Ceylon – familiar and well-established brands. In other words, the time for change had come, and everyone had to rebuild. After all, people drink tea, no matter what. Russians annually consume 170 thousand tons of tea (an average of one kilogram per person). Our country ranks third in the world (after China and India) in consumption of this drink. In addition, the equipment at the Dagomys factory was the best in the Soviet Union, capable of processing green leaves using new technologies. Alas, we missed the chance. Now Krasnodar tea is considered uncompetitive.
– And they still grow it?
- They are growing. Although in the soil and climatic conditions of India, Ceylon, and Vietnam, this problem is much easier to solve than here. And the difference in salaries in India and Russia is large. In India, tea growers receive much less for their work. But understand that the Sochi subtropics with their tea, tangerines, oranges, lemons, feijoas, persimmons, figs, bay leaves, hazelnuts, medicinal and spicy plants, a variety of rare flowers are the diamond in the “crown” of Russia. And “picking out” it for the sake of the market or the market situation is stupid!
We are not going to serve the whole country with Krasnodar tea. The problem can be formulated differently. The quality of Russian tea is quite high, why not grow its special types, selling at the same price as the famous North Indian Darjeeling tea, which costs from 20-30 to 70 dollars per kilogram. Moreover, the production of elite tea is nothing new for us! At one time, the leadership of the Soviet Union - the government and the Politburo - drank only Krasnodar tea. I know this for sure: I supplied it myself. And when government delegations went to other countries, say, Great Britain, they took our tea with them as a valuable souvenir.
TRIBUTE TO TRADITION
– Your wife, Larisa Eduardovna, also made a big contribution to the creation of the famous “Tea Houses”...
– Yes, it’s been twenty years since she died... Possessing good taste, she put her whole soul into this work, independently developed the design, thought through every little detail. There were three houses. The first is small, the second is large, with a veranda and a wonderful collection of samovars (one of the best in the Soviet Union!). The third is the largest, delivered in 1972. This house was built by a family of Hutsuls from Western Ukraine - noble craftsmen who built a camp site in Rakhiv and a restaurant in the Carpathian region. Absolutely everything is done by hand: wood carvings and exhibits of Russian folk crafts. Our “Tea Houses”, built in the mountains at 600 meters above sea level and with a beautiful view of the vast expanse of the sea, the majestic silhouette of the Main Caucasus Range, were a great success. Every year they were visited by more than one hundred thousand foreign tourists vacationing in Sochi. The guests were greeted by girls dressed in ancient Russian clothes, given tea, and treated to pies, jam, honey, and fruit. But first we had an introductory tour, which included a tour of a tea plantation and a museum of samovars... 
– For ten years now you have been heading the Russian Association of Tea and Coffee Producers. What was the purpose of its creation?
– Coordination of efforts in resolving common issues in the areas of tax and customs policy, product quality control... What is the problem of falsification worth? It’s impossible for every small company or store to go to the government with these concerns. Therefore, a group of large entrepreneurs involved in tea in Russia came to the conclusion that it was time to unite. Following the example of confectioners, sugar workers, tobacco workers. And the first thing we achieved was the right to be called the “Russian Association,” which immediately makes us closer to the government and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation. We stood up to defend the domestic tea producer. In 1997, more than 70 percent of tea came to Russia from abroad in packaged form. And our factories packaged less than 30 percent. Here voices began to sound that we have the power, how long can we stand idle?! Instead of finished products, it is necessary to receive raw materials, and packaging should be done on site. This makes it easier to control the quality of tea products. Moreover, packaging implies the development of printing, the cardboard industry, the production of tin cans, and the creation of tens of thousands of additional jobs! Plus taxes that remain in our country.
To limit the influx of packaged tea into the country, our association achieved a change in customs duties: five percent was established on raw materials, and 20 percent on packaged goods. And today more than 70 percent of tea is packaged in Russian factories!
– In 2001, “Roschai” turned into “Roschaykofe”. On whose initiative?
– On the initiative of manufacturing companies of both tea and coffee: “Orimi Trade”, “May Tea”, “Grand Trading House” and others. We are only taking the first steps towards creating a domestic coffee industry. But we are moving in the right direction, and this infuriates our foreign rivals. They see results in tea. The moment we stopped receiving tea from Georgia, foreign companies immediately bombarded us with tea, and now we are holding them back.
– As a tea fan, it always seemed to me that these two drinks were antagonists.
- This is wrong. Tea and coffee are different botanically. But the basis of the effect of these drinks on the human body is caffeine. There are natural and climatic similarities in the places where they grow. Another thing is traditions: if tea has taken root in Russia and England, then in Europe they prefer coffee.
As for competition, it exists within both the tea and coffee markets. Previously, no one drank instant coffee, but now, in the age of speed, speed of preparation has become a priority: throw in a spoonful of coffee, add boiling water, stir - and you're done! It's the same with tea. Once upon a time it was brewed exclusively in teapots. The main thing that, in my opinion, unites these natural drinks is the challenge they pose to alcohol, drugs, as well as chemical analogues such as Coca-Cola. The more tea houses there were in Rus', the fewer alcoholics there were. It is a pity that today, when promoting tea, the emphasis is primarily on its healing properties, which is more attractive to older people. But tea is suitable for all ages! True, in my opinion, young people should not get too carried away with bags. The bag is temporary (like instant coffee). It is for those who “are in a hurry to live and in a hurry to feel.” Traditional tea drinking is akin to an art that stands above vanity.
– Do your children drink tea?
- Certainly! And not just children. I have three daughters, four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren - my main wealth!
– Ustim Genrikhovich, I can’t help but ask how you, Honorary Citizen of Sochi, took the news of the change in the status of the city?
- With joy. In 2014 I will turn 94 years old... During my life I have visited 79 countries of the world. And I can declare with full responsibility that now Sochi, not in words, but in deeds, is becoming a resort of international level. From a Winter Olympics perspective, this is doing everything right. But agriculture is going through hard times. Tea plantations are in dire condition. Therefore, as an agronomist, I must say that Sochi is far behind in this matter. Of course, everything can be corrected if there is a desire. But the desire, apparently, is still very small... If something can be proven by deeds, then there is no need to waste words on it.
Biography
Ustim Genrikhovich Shteiman (born 02/23/1920, Zhitomir region) - general director of the Krasnodar Tea company, Sochi.Born on February 23, 1920 in the city of Berdichev, Zhitomir region of Ukraine. In 1935 he entered the Teachers' Institute, Faculty of Biology. The war did not allow me to finish my studies.
In June 1941, having never passed his final exams, he volunteered to go to the front. He served throughout the war in the mountain rifle units of the internal troops of the NKVD. He received baptism of fire in the North Caucasus in September 1942. At the Marukh Pass he fought with the Alpine riflemen of the Edelweiss division. Participated in other special operations. For military services he was awarded two orders and medals. In the spring of 1946, he was transferred to the reserve with the rank of lieutenant.
In 1947 he entered the Moscow Order of Lenin Agricultural Academy. K. A. Timiryazeva. He was a Michurin scholarship recipient and graduated from the academy with honors. He refused graduate school and asked to work in production. Received assignment to the Krasnodar region. In 1952, he began working at the Dagomys tea state farm as a department manager. In 1957 he was appointed chief agronomist of the state farm, and in 1963 - director. In 1972, after the formation of the Krasnodar Tea company, which united tea state farms and tea factories in the Adler, Khostinsky and Lazarevsky districts of Sochi, he became its general director and, at the same time, remained the director of the head tea state farm "Dagomyssky".
By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of December 7, 1973, for the great successes achieved in the All-Union Socialist Competition and the demonstrated labor valor in fulfilling the obligations assumed to increase the production and sale of grain and other agricultural products to the state in 1973, Ustim Genrikhovich Shteiman was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor with the presentation of the Order of Lenin and the Hammer and Sickle gold medal.
Shteiman worked as general director of the Krasnodar Tea company for 11 years - until 1983. During the same period, under the leadership of U. G. Shteiman, bulk transportation of green tea leaves, automatic irrigation of tea plantations, the use of small-scale mechanization in the collection of tea leaves and molding of tea plantations were introduced. Hundreds of hectares of plantations of subtropical crops were established, and the Dagomys and Adler tea factories were modernized. As a result, tea state farms and processing factories achieved the highest results, the production of green tea leaves in the head tea state farm alone exceeded 4,000 tons, and the entire team of the company reached 10 thousand tons of Krasnodar tea leaves. The creation of the unique brand “Krasnodar Tea” is associated with the name of Shteiman.
Later he was an adviser to the Minister of Agriculture and Food of the USSR. Since 1998 - President of the Russian Association of Tea and Coffee Producers. Honored Agronomist of the Russian Federation. Honorary citizen of the city of Sochi. Lives in Moscow.
He was awarded three Orders of Lanin, two Orders of the Patriotic War of the 2nd degree, the Order of Friendship of Peoples, the Red Star, medals, including “For Military Merit” and “For Courage.”
3 Orders of Lenin, 2 Orders of the Patriotic War, 2nd degree, Red Star, Order of Friendship, Medal "For Courage", Medal "For Military Merit" and other medals.
Ranks
lieutenant
Positions
in the mountain rifle units of the internal troops of the NKVD 1941-1945
Biography
Shteiman Ustim Genrikhovich - general director of the Krasnodar Tea company, Sochi.
Born on February 23, 1920 in the city of Berdichev, Zhitomir region of Ukraine. Jew. In 1935 he entered the Teachers' Institute, Faculty of Biology. The war did not allow me to finish my studies.
In June 1941, without passing his final exams, he volunteered to go to the front. He served throughout the war in the mountain rifle units of the internal troops of the NKVD. He received baptism of fire in the North Caucasus in September 1942. At the Marukh Pass he fought with the Alpine riflemen of the Edelweiss division. Participated in other special operations. For military services he was awarded two orders and medals. In the spring of 1946, he was transferred to the reserve with the rank of lieutenant.
In 1947 he entered the Moscow Order of Lenin Agricultural Academy. K.A. Timiryazev. He was a Michurin scholarship recipient and graduated from the academy with honors. He refused graduate school and asked to work in production. Received assignment to the Krasnodar region.
In 1952, he began working at the Dagomys tea state farm as a department manager. In 1957 he was appointed chief agronomist of the state farm, and in 1963 - director. In 1972, after the formation of the Krasnodar Tea company, which united tea state farms and tea factories in the Adler, Khostinsky and Lazarevsky districts of Sochi, he became its general director and, at the same time, remained the director of the head tea state farm "Dagomyssky".
By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of December 7, 1973, for the great successes achieved in the All-Union Socialist Competition and the demonstrated labor valor in fulfilling the obligations assumed to increase the production and sale of grain and other agricultural products to the state in 1973, Ustim Genrikhovich Shteiman was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor with the presentation of the Order of Lenin and the Hammer and Sickle gold medal.
Shteiman worked as general director of the Krasnodar Tea company for 11 years - until 1983. During the same period, under the leadership of Shteiman U.G. Bulk transportation of green tea leaves, automatic irrigation of tea plantations, the use of small-scale mechanization in the collection of tea leaves and molding of tea plantations were introduced. Hundreds of hectares of plantations of subtropical crops were established, and the Dagomys and Adler tea factories were modernized. As a result, tea state farms and processing factories achieved the highest results, the production of green tea leaves in the head tea state farm alone exceeded 4,000 tons, and the entire team of the company reached 10 thousand tons of Krasnodar tea leaves. The creation of the unique brand “Krasnodar Tea” is associated with the name of Sheiman.
Later he was an adviser to the Minister of Agriculture and Food of the USSR. Since 1998 - President of the Russian Association of Tea and Coffee Producers (Roschaykofe).
Honored Agronomist of the Russian Federation (1965). Honorary citizen of the city of Sochi (2007)
Lives in Moscow.
Shteiman Ustim Genrikhovich - General Director of the company "Krasnodar Tea", the city of Sochi, Krasnodar Territory.
Born on February 23, 1920 in the city of Berdichev, Berdichev district, Kyiv province of the Ukrainian SSR, now the Zhitomir region of Ukraine. Jew. In 1935 he entered the Teachers' Institute, Faculty of Biology. The war did not allow me to finish my studies.
In June 1941, without passing his final exams, he volunteered to go to the front. He served throughout the war in the mountain rifle units of the internal troops of the NKVD. He received baptism of fire in the North Caucasus in September 1942. At the Marukh Pass he fought with the Alpine riflemen of the Edelweiss division. Participated in other special operations. For military services he was awarded two orders and medals. In the spring of 1946, he was transferred to the reserve with the rank of lieutenant.
In 1947, he entered the Moscow Order of Lenin Agricultural Academy named after K.A. Timiryazev. He was a Michurin scholarship recipient and graduated from the academy with honors. He refused graduate school and asked to work in production. Received assignment to the Krasnodar region.
In 1952, he began working at the Dagomys tea state farm as a department manager. In 1957 he was appointed chief agronomist of the state farm, and in 1963 - director. In 1972, after the formation of the Krasnodar Tea company, which united tea state farms and tea factories in the Adler, Khostinsky and Lazarevsky districts of Sochi, he became its general director and at the same time remained the director of the head tea state farm "Dagomyssky".
By Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of December 7, 1973, for the great successes achieved in the All-Union Socialist Competition and the demonstrated labor valor in fulfilling the obligations assumed to increase the production and sale of grain and other agricultural products to the state in 1973 Shteiman Ustim Genrikhovich awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor with the presentation of the Order of Lenin and the Hammer and Sickle gold medal.
Shteiman worked as general director of the Krasnodar Tea company for 11 years - until 1983. During the same period, under his leadership, bulk transportation of green tea leaves, automatic irrigation of tea plantations, the use of small-scale mechanization in the collection of tea leaves and molding of tea plantations were introduced. Hundreds of hectares of plantations of subtropical crops were established, and the Dagomys and Adler tea factories were modernized. As a result, tea state farms and processing factories achieved the highest results, the production of green tea leaves in the head tea state farm alone exceeded 4,000 tons, and the entire team of the company reached 10 thousand tons of Krasnodar tea leaves. The creation of the unique brand “Krasnodar Tea” is associated with the name of Shteiman.
Later he was an adviser to the Minister of Agriculture and Food of the USSR. Since 1998 - President of the Russian Association of Tea and Coffee Producers (Roschaykofe).
Honored Agronomist of the RSFSR (1965). Honorary citizen of the city of Sochi (2007).
Awarded 3 Orders of Lenin (04/30/1966; 04/08/1971; 12/07/1973), 2 Orders of the Patriotic War, 2nd degree (..., 03/11/1985), Orders of Friendship of Peoples (03/13/1981), Red Star, medals, including “For Courage”, “For Military Merit”.
“Person of the Year” Ustim Genrikhovich Shteiman: “Tea accompanies me all my life!”
Ustim Genrikhovich belongs to the generation of our fathers and grandfathers who heroically went through the hardships of the Great Patriotic War and worked for the good of the country. He devoted his entire post-war life to the present day to the development of the domestic tea industry. For a long time he headed the Krasnodar Tea production association, which, under his leadership and with his direct participation, became the main reference farm for subtropical crops in the country. On the basis of this enterprise, the latest achievements of domestic and foreign science of that time were implemented. Their implementation took place under his leadership in other farms. For his participation in the Great Patriotic War, he was awarded the Order of the Red Star and two Orders of the Patriotic War. The country's leadership also highly appreciated his contribution to the development of the tea industry in Russia: he was awarded the high title of Hero of Socialist Labor with a Golden Star, he was also awarded three Orders of Lenin and bears the honorary title “Honored Agronomist of the Russian Federation.”
Quite recently, the country’s tea community decided to award Ustim Genrikhovich Shteiman the honorary title of “Person of the Year” in the tea industry according to the magazine “Coffee and Tea in Russia.” During the meeting at which the “Man of the Year” memorial sign was handed over, Ustim Genrikhovich gave a short interview for K&Ch, in which he thanked everyone and shared his thoughts about tea.
- Ustim Genrikhovich, you’ve probably been drinking tea all your life?
Yes, tea has been with me all my life, starting from childhood. We had a samovar at home; my father and I used to sit down in the evening and could empty it all while we talked about various topics. Then there were many years of working with tea. Today I would like to say once again about the most important thing. Our industry produces tea, a product that is constantly present in our daily lives. Almost all people in our country start their day with it and end it when they go to rest late in the evening. Tea in Russia has practically no competitors; in any case, there are few other drinks that can compete with tea. I would even say that our tea is beyond any competition.
It’s not for nothing that the saying goes: “If you don’t drink tea, where do you get your strength?” It may seem frivolous or humorous to some, but, in fact, it speaks of the weight of tea - whoever does not drink tea has no power. Folk sayings live because they have been tested for centuries and thought out very deeply...
- What would you like to wish to those who are currently working in the tea industry and making plans to develop their lives together with it?
I believe that tea is still not promoted enough in our country. Therefore, more attention should be paid to it - it is a valuable drink for health and solving any life issues. From my many years of experience, I know well that if there are any contradictions, it is always better to negotiate to resolve them over a cup or two of tea. And the sooner we agree, sitting at the tea table, the more peace there will be in our homes and in our countries. Without a peaceful tea party there can be no lasting agreements. We must all remember that tea has long been the drink of the world. This is the most important thing for us.
- If possible, a few words to those people who voted to choose you as the Person of the Year.
To be honest, I am very pleased with this recognition of my many years of work in the industry. If they voted for me, it means that the current generation of representatives of our industry knows something about me. After all, my biography is the biography of an ordinary citizen. I worked honestly to ensure that people in our country have more opportunities to enjoy tea as a drink. Those with whom I worked knew that my words matched my deeds. I couldn’t imagine my life any other way. I am grateful to fate that she rewarded me with an understanding of responsibility, that a word spoken in vain is not a sparrow: if it flies out, you cannot catch it. When a person adheres to this principle, he can count on trust between people. This is very important and very necessary, especially now.
Thank you too!..
"Coffee and Tea in Russia", 2 2016
The life of this amazing man is connected with the mountains, although he was born and raised far from them. His youth at the front was spent on the rocky paths and icy passes of the Caucasus. After the war, he grew tea on the slopes of the Black Sea coast for more than half a century. “Only mountains can be better than mountains...”
This line from Vladimir Vysotsky’s song was repeated several times in our conversation by Ustim Genrikhovich SHTEIMAN - Hero of Socialist Labor, holder of three Orders of Lenin, Honored Agronomist of Russia, President of the Russian Association of Tea and Coffee Producers, Honorary Citizen of Sochi.
“They need to be thrown off the pass...”
Ustim received his baptism of fire at the Marukh Pass in September 1942. Many units, including the special mountain rifle troops of the NKVD, to which Shteiman was drafted, entered into battle with the Alpine riflemen, who were eager for Grozny oil and proudly wore the emblem of the beautiful mountain flower “edelweiss” on their caps. By the beginning of the war, he graduated from the biology department of a teacher's institute in Ukraine, but did not have time to pass the state exams - he hurried to the military registration and enlistment office. “I considered it my duty to be in the army. We were all eager to defend our Motherland back then.”
He said that not everyone could get into the mountain riflemen: “Our fighters had at least a secondary education and, what I remember, were over 180 centimeters tall. Healthy young men, strong, resilient. Everyone has the GTO badge and the “Voroshilov Shooter” badge, and they had to be earned. I myself was also a strong guy, I could carry a heavy mortar on myself. Before the war, he was seriously involved in skiing. This was important: each operation required maximum physical effort. The bad thing was that almost all of us saw the mountains for the first time..."
So, by the time of the battles at Marukh Pass, the unit did not have the necessary experience of operating in mountainous areas, and the clothing and equipment were not suitable for such places. When they managed to capture one of the German rangers, their equipment was a wonder for our soldiers and commanders: mountain suits and special backpacks, sleeping bags and ski boots, rock and ice pitons, ice axes and 10-pronged crampons... The weapons were extremely lightweight, and the sighting systems took into account the specifics of the terrain. As the veteran recalls, one of the prisoners said that before the war his company underwent thorough training in the Alps and the Balkans. And they recruited residents of mountainous regions as huntsmen. They also had maps of the passes, dated 1937-1939, with great detail. The Soviet troops did not have such new maps. As it turned out, before the war, many of the Edelweiss officers were tourists in these places: they memorized and even sketched, or even photographed passages in the mountains and secret paths.
They were confronted by people wearing boots with windings and with conventional weapons. It was cold in the mountains, so the soldiers were freezing without warm uniforms. So on a glacier cut by deep cracks, where people were faced not only with steep paths, sheer cliffs, rockfalls and avalanches, but also with low temperatures. Mountain warfare also has features in both strategy and tactics. There, even the flight of a bullet is different than on the plain... “We had nothing except an alpenstock, claws and rope. Even backpacks. We made do with “sidor,” as we called the duffel bag. Dark glasses were also a rarity, and in the mountains there was such dazzling white snow...”
What did our soldiers and commanders rely on? As Ustim Genrikhovich recalls, at the front line, when an eye and an eye after each other: so as not to fall asleep, and therefore not to freeze, not to stumble.
And the “kings of the mountains,” as the fascist rangers called themselves, wavered. Having “vigorously” fought in the Alps, they were lost on the windy spurs of the Caucasus ridge. And they were amazed at the steadfastness of the defenders of the Marukh Pass: they were armed and dressed “wrong.” They did not take into account the spirit of the fighters, and did not understand how they could perform the “feat of silence” when, falling off a cliff into the abyss, they did not make a sound...
Over the past decades, many of the names of his colleagues have been erased from the memory of the front-line soldier, but he remembers the name of his commander: Colonel Alexander Aleksandrovich Luchinsky, later an army general, Hero of the Soviet Union. According to Shteiman, he is an energetic, courageous and experienced officer. His subordinates loved him...
The front-line soldier complained that in those days, and later, we fought not with skill, as demanded by the great commander Alexander Suvorov, but with numbers. “They didn’t take care of people. Some people died - more and more forces were thrown in to replace them, without proper training, weapons and equipment. This is wrong, not human. After all, strong men, rural men, artisans died - they should have built houses, cultivated the land, raised children on their feet. But not fate..."
“They shot us in the back...”
In the 90s, when events in Chechnya were shown on TV, Ustim Genrikhovich seemed to again see himself surrounded by excited mountaineers and hear their guttural cries. And even if machine gun fire did not sound from the screen at such moments, the old soldier still felt how loudly they reverberated between the gloomy rocks...
“Our 141st Mountain Rifle Regiment was transferred to Checheno-Ingushetia at the end of 1942. He was the only one in the republic. And operations against Chechen gangs immediately began. We saw with our own eyes looted trains and villages, mutilated corpses of judges, police officers, village leaders... And we were constantly shot in the back. Every operation we lost comrades."
Lieutenant Shteiman and his colleagues did not know much at that time. Only later, in declassified and published documents, did Ustim Genrikhovich read that the so-called “rebels” set themselves the goal of “ensuring complete disorganization of the rear of the Soviet military in the Caucasus, accelerating the death of Bolshevism in the Caucasus and defeat in the war with Germany.”
The soldiers and commanders, who already had experience in fighting in the mountains, then quickly realized that they were confronted by an extremely cunning and insidious enemy, avoiding open armed conflict. “Who were these people? Mostly local residents, they fled in thousands from recruiting stations. But there were also Germans who were thrown into the territory of Checheno-Ingushetia. The weapons also came from there. When during one of the operations they managed to capture German paratroopers, they showed that over 500 machine guns, ten machine guns and ammunition for them were dropped from airplanes in the area of the village of Makhkety. And German planes came often..."
The enemy landing force had the task of blowing up bridges in the rear, disrupting supplies, forming gangs, and carrying out large-scale sabotage actions in Maykop and Grozny. Among the paratroopers were prisoners of war from local residents who underwent nine months of training in Abwehr schools before being transferred to the rear. In addition to weapons, ammunition and food, they were equipped with mountaineering equipment, tents, two-page maps and short-wave portable radio stations. Once in the rear, the saboteurs virtually everywhere enjoyed the sympathy of the population, who were ready to provide assistance with food and accommodation for the night. Their troops were immediately replenished with mountaineers.
All combat operations carried out by the 141st Regiment were fraught with mortal danger. “In the gorges, all the paths of the bandits were shot, they are like fish in water in those places. I’ll tell you frankly: Chechens are strong warriors. It is not for nothing that the royal guard at one time consisted mainly of residents of the Caucasus. Even their boys skillfully handle weapons.”
The problems for the soldiers and commanders were the same as during the battles at Marukh Pass: the lack of good quality clothing and the necessary equipment. In the mountains, shoes quickly wore out - those same boots with windings. There were not enough climbing ropes and communications equipment. We had to use outdated maps of the area.
The veteran remembered such an episode. The group then returned from another combat exit. She worked for more than a week in the Itum-Kalinsky gorge - the most banditous, according to Shteiman. However, he clarified that there were a couple more dangerous gorges. At the location of the regiment, the exhausted and unshaven soldiers and commanders were met by the Deputy People's Commissar of the NKVD Bogdan Kobulov. “He immediately asked whether there were any who died during the operation. Our commander answered in the affirmative. “Where are the corpses?” When he found out that they were buried in the mountains, he was indignant: “Do you want the bandits to find your comrades, who fought honestly to the last drop of blood, abuse them and throw them out to be devoured by wild animals? Don’t leave the dead behind!” This is what we began to do, no matter how difficult it was. And a special cemetery appeared in Grozny.”
During its participation in the defeat of Chechen gangs, the regiment lost 90 people. Many were injured. Shteiman was among them. Near Malgobek, where there were battles with the Germans who were rushing to Grozny for more than two weeks, he was wounded in the leg. After treatment he returned to his native part. I met the end of the war in the mountains, during an operation.
The documents of those years reported: “During their stay in Checheno-Ingushetia, units of the 141st regiment liquidated 57 gang groups, destroyed 1,033 bandits, detained 1,600 deserters, captured and confiscated 2,865 units of rifled small arms, including machine guns, and 110,020 pieces of ammunition, 545 hand grenades and 2 mortars." These figures give only an approximate idea of the scale of the anti-Soviet movement in Checheno-Ingushetia during the Great Patriotic War.
Regarding the deportation, which began on February 23, 1944 (by the way, it was on this day that Shteiman was born), the veteran’s attitude is: “You know, it was probably cruel to evict the entire Chechen population. Apparently, it was necessary to selectively solve this problem. After all, there were traitors in Ukraine and Georgia, but no one punished the entire people. Today in Ukraine they are celebrated as heroes. And then, in Checheno-Ingushetia, the victims of the action were mainly old people, women and children, and the bandits took refuge in the inaccessible mountainous part of the republic. I understand: there was a war going on, and this left its mark. In general, I think that it was the bandits who “set up” their people.”
The war in the mountains continued until the spring of 1946. The old soldier noted that if the experience that was in the regiment had been adopted in the 90s, fewer guys would have been recruited. Then the 141st left for Western Ukraine, where for several more years he fought against the armed formations of the nationalist underground. That year an order appeared: to mobilize everyone who was called from the institutes. Shteiman took advantage of this. He was offered to stay in the army. I didn't agree. By this time, the officer was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd degree, the Red Star, and the medals “For Military Merit” and “For Courage.” Later, five more orders and 15 medals were added to them, but this was already in peaceful life...
Patriarch of Russian tea
In military uniform, Ustim appeared within the walls of the Timiryazev Agricultural Academy. “I studied with interest. This is probably not easy to believe, but I will note: in all 50 disciplines that we studied, we got only A’s. He was a Michurin scholarship recipient and graduated from the academy with honors. I stayed in graduate school, but decided to go into production. They were assigned to the Krasnodar region.”
Perhaps Shteiman would have achieved success in growing any of the fruit and vegetable crops, and that was the name of the faculty from which he graduated. But I chose subtropical crops. The head of the department of subtropical crops, Professor Alexandrov, had an influence; he taught his subject very interestingly. But that’s not the only thing that influenced the choice. “Memories of childhood in Berdichev: my father and I - he was a leather craftsman - sit down at the samovar, drink tea and have leisurely conversations. You know, a cup or two of tea sets the mood for friendly conversations, it’s not alcohol when people begin to rudely sort things out,” says Ustim Genrikhovich. And he regrets that in the age of speed, people have become carried away with tea bags and stopped brewing tea in teapots: “Traditional tea drinking is akin to an art that stands above vanity.” And, in his opinion, tea challenges alcohol, drugs, and chemical analogues such as Coca-Cola: “The more tea houses there were in Rus', the fewer alcoholics there were.
In Kuban, Shteiman went through all the stages: he was the foreman of the Dagomys tea state farm, manager, chief agronomist, director, then general director of the country's first agro-industrial complex, Krasnodar Tea, created in 1972. “I loved and love to work. I have been working since I was 16 years old. And I always set myself the following goal: to thoroughly study the assigned area, and only then go higher, although, to be honest, I never aspired to positions.” In total, 34 years in one household. It is with his name that the creation of the unique brand “Krasnodar Tea”, familiar to many Russians, is associated.
A small digression. Russia is a cold northern country, you won’t surprise us with snow and ice, but the fact that tea can grow here, this darling of the subtropics, is really worthy of surprise. The first to grow tea in the vicinity of Sochi a century ago was peasant enthusiast Ioann Antonovich Koshman. At an altitude of 500 meters above sea level, he planted a plantation of 800 tea bushes brought from Georgia. Local residents then dubbed the new settler an eccentric. In a carefully dug area, instead of the usual potatoes, onions and cabbage, he planted some dark brown balls, unknown in these places - future tea bushes. But time has shown the correctness of Koshman’s case: in 1905, he already demonstrated his tea at an agricultural exhibition and at the Russian Riviera exhibition in St. Petersburg. The reviews were the most flattering, there was no end to buyers. The first industrial plantations of Krasnodar tea with a total area of 150 hectares were established in the Adler and Lazarevsky districts in 1936. In the post-war years, specialized tea state farms were created there and two tea factories were built. And tea - its bushes covered the mountain slopes from Adler to Tuapse with a continuous soft light green carpet - became the leading industrial agricultural crop here. “Of course, in India, Ceylon, and Vietnam, it is much easier to grow tea,” says Ustim Genrikhovich. “But we didn’t set out to supply the whole country with Krasnodar tea.” At one time, the entire leadership of the country - I know, supplied these products - drank only our Krasnodar bouquet. And when they went to other countries, they even gave our tea to the British as a souvenir, as a valuable gift, and this was highly valued.”
What has Shteiman managed to do in more than three decades?
“I built housing, roads. By 1980, all front-line soldiers were provided with comfortable housing. Pensioners received additional money from the farm. More than 250 kilometers of roads were built into populated areas; most residents used bus services. The villages were equipped with telephones. They operated clubs, consumer services enterprises, and we had a state farm dispensary. I'm very proud of this. People still say: Shteiman built these houses and roads. And the fact that a quarter of a century after I left those places, I was awarded the title of honorary citizen of Sochi, testifies to one thing: people remember the good. In general, I think: the task of man is to create. This is the main thing."
According to the veteran, Kuban tea growers were the first in the Soviet Union to do a lot at that time. For example, watering tea plantations at an altitude of 300 meters. It was an automated sprinkler system for slopes up to 30 degrees steep. “We were then awarded special certificates and medals from the World Irrigation Congress, and our experience was actively used in other countries. Another achievement of ours is the introduction of small-scale mechanization. We built our own manual tea picking machines, and they were lighter than the Japanese ones! Mechanized assembly does not lead to a deterioration in product quality; you just need to precisely match the entire technology to the machine. As a result, we reached 10 thousand tons of Krasnodar tea leaves. And when I started, there were only two thousand tons. They produced several varieties of black long-leaf “Krasnodar tea”. “Bouquet” and “Extra” were in greatest demand.
Shteiman had a huge farm: 150 km along the Black Sea coast and 60 km into the mountains. The team is 10 thousand people. Ustim Genrikhovich regularly visited all the brigades, but when he heard the words: “You should come to us more often,” he replied: “If you come often, then I will inevitably replace your leaders, and they must solve problems on their own. Constantly hanging around over subordinates is not my style.”
He regrets that “according to all the rules of the art of war,” the Russian tea market was captured by foreign companies. “You can understand them: that Russia is one of the largest tea-consuming countries - third place after China and India. By the way, an ancient Chinese saying says: “It is better to go without food for three days than for one day without tea.” A somewhat exaggerated, but generally true statement. Foreigners have bombarded us with second-rate products, and we will not be able to counteract this. Believe me, Lipton, which is drunk in England and here, is night and day. In general, the problem of falsification is very acute. More than 80 percent of tea products in stores are fake. Abandoning state quality standards turned out to be a colossal mistake, because the requirements for tea products in the country were very stringent.”
Meanwhile, the size of the plantations of the enterprises of the Krasnodar Tea association decreased three times, from 1,500 to 500 hectares. There was no more work on the plantations, and poverty came to the homes of local tea growers. But for another 15-20 years, tea production in Sochi was profitable. For example, in 1993 the profit amounted to 2.2 billion rubles. The famous Dagomys tea factory literally went under the hammer. “Her equipment was the best in the Soviet Union, capable of processing tea leaves using new technologies,” says Ustim Genrikhovich bitterly.
Meetings in the land of magnolias
Agroindustrial complex "Krasnodar Tea" was visited by many guests. From abroad alone - more than one hundred thousand per year. “They brought over a million dollars to the state budget,” says Shteiman.
They received domestic and foreign guests in the so-called “tea houses”. It was the idea of Ustim Genrikhovich, and his wife, Larisa Eduardovna, unfortunately deceased, brought it to life. “Possessing good taste, she independently developed the design and thought through every detail. She put her whole soul into the buildings.”
There were three houses, all wooden. They were located 20 km from Sochi, in a wonderful mountainous place, at an altitude of 600 meters above sea level, offering amazing views of the expanse of the Black Sea and the majestic silhouette of the Main Caucasus Range. The guests were greeted by girls dressed in ancient Russian clothes, given tea, and treated to pies, pancakes, jam, honey, and fruit. The houses were decorated with wood carvings and exhibits of Russian folk crafts by famous masters, old photographs and tools of the first tea growers. There was also a wonderful collection of samovars, one of the best in the Soviet Union.
“I had the entire first group of astronauts. Handsome young people. Yura Gagarin is not just a nice guy, he is a phenomenon, a genius. They jokingly suggested that I create a “cosmonautics museum”, the main exhibits of which should be... cups. Like, Yura Gagarin drank from this, and Valya Tereshkova drank from this.”
As Ustim Genrikhovich noted, he was especially impressed by Alexey Leonov, a competent, intelligent person, the author of amazing space landscapes. The fact that he was entrusted with being the first to go into space speaks volumes. Later, after the Soyuz-Apollo international space expedition, he came with American astronauts.
It was on that visit that an interesting episode occurred, which Ustim Genrikhovich warmly remembered. He led a tour and showed the guests the plantation. “It was autumn, I noticed that astronaut Vance did not feel entirely comfortable. I see he's chilly. I took off my jacket with the Hero’s star, put it on Vance and jokingly said: “Here is the first citizen of the United States who turned into a Hero of Socialist Labor.” At this moment, our cosmonaut Vladimir Aleksandrovich Shatalov, noticing that the wife of Armstrong, the head of the American delegation, was also freezing, quickly took off his jacket and threw it on her. I continue to joke: “And here is the first US citizen to become twice Hero of the Soviet Union...” We were then accompanied by dozens of journalists, and they captured unique footage.”
Of course, state leaders and prominent cultural and artistic figures came to the “tea houses” more than once. Shteiman spoke warmly about the designer Sergei Korolev, the head of the USSR State Planning Committee Nikolai Baibakov, the president of the USSR Academy of Sciences Anatoly Alexandrov, the head of Kuban Sergei Medunov, the poet Robert Rozhdestvensky and many others. “The most powerful men, lumps,” is how the veteran briefly described these people. I especially focused on two tea lovers, like myself. Alexey Nikolaevich Kosygin, the head of the government of the Soviet Union, preferred to sit by the samovar. I drank only scalding tea. “Can you drink it cold?” - he asked.
In the memory of many, the Prime Minister remained a reserved, gloomy, even gloomy person - no one had ever seen a smile on his face. But Shteiman recalls an incident when Kosygin smiled. Once he expressed to the head of government the idea of the need to give directors more rights and independence, that this would increase their responsibility. Alexey Nikolaevich then asked: “What is the style of your work?” Shteiman replied: “I love broad democracy under a brutal dictatorship.” The Prime Minister smiled at this unexpected answer. “When meeting with him, the occasion of unhurried speech, thoughtful generalizations, I involuntarily admired not only his simplicity and restraint, but also the depth of his economic thinking. “I understood that in front of me was the largest and most erudite statesman of all those I knew,” says Ustim Genrikhovich. – Such a knowledgeable person, as they say, “can’t hunt down a Blackamoor.” Although there were leaders to whom you say anything, they will take everything at face value. They were used to talking to people with slogans, and, alas, there were many of them.”
Efim Pavlovich Slavsky, with whom Shteiman had the chance to be friends for several decades, was also a big tea lover. “Sometimes, putting down the cup, he suddenly began to read poetry, of which he knew a great many. Imagine, when we went down into the uranium mine, he was already over eighty. A man of unprecedented efficiency, for thirty years he stood at the head of the “state within a state” - the Ministry of Medium Engineering. It was the nuclear empire of the USSR, which built hundreds of large cities in the country, and thousands of all kinds of objects. Professional from A to Z. Three times Hero of Socialist Labor. He had - just imagine - eleven Orders of Lenin. I am glad that fate brought me together with such people - those in whom there is a special shortage today - government officials who have completely subordinated themselves to the interests of the country.”
And he regrets that today the flavor of the Russian national tradition, which attracted guests to the “tea houses,” has given way to international etiquette. “I really want to return the emphasis on Russian samovars, Krasnopolyansky honey, Kuban pies and the Krasnodar Tea brand... So that any foreign guest can say with delight: “The Russian spirit is here, it smells like Russia!”
Ustim Genrikhovich is rightfully considered the patriarch of Russian tea. Both in terms of his age - next year he will be 90 - and in terms of his contribution to the development of the industry. But the veteran does not think about peace. He recently had a conversation with the head of Abkhazia, Sergei Bagapsh, who asked the front-line soldier to restore tea plantations in the republic: “Go to the Ochamchira district - you know it well - take a look. As you say, so we will do.” Ustim Genrikhovich did not refuse: “I took specialists with me and went. I understand how difficult it will be to restore everything after twenty years of neglect, but I want to do it.” The famous tea grower has three daughters, three grandsons and a granddaughter, three great-grandsons and a great-granddaughter. The youngest, Andryusha, is three years old. They, according to the veteran, are his main wealth!
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