Трудови миграции на българи в Западен Сибир през 70-те и 80-те години на 20 век. Социокултурни аспекти
Labor Migrations of Bulgarians in Western Siberia in the 1970s and 1980s. Sociocultural Aspects

Summary/Abstract: The article is devoted to analyzing arrival circumstances, population, settlement, work conditions, socio-cultural adaptation and particularities of relations with the local community of builders from Bulgaria who migrated to Western Siberia within the framework of government contracts. The sources for the research were unpublished archival materials, data from journals and field trips recorded in the Tyumen region in 2019–2020. The research has revealed that travelling to the USSR in order to get income played an important part in the individual success strategies of Bulgarian youth in the1970s and became quite widespread. Between 1970 – the late 1980s Tyumen region had 7000 Bulgarians living in it with the biggest groups working in Tyumen, Surgut, Nizhnevatovsk, Urai, and Nadim. Several neighbourhoods, working villages and oil extraction facilities in Western Siberia were built by them. Also, both in Tyumen and Surgut there are squares of Soviet-Bulgarian friendship, and in Surgut there is a monument to Georgi Dimitrov. Upon arrival in the USSR, the Bulgarians had a privileged status. The main adaptation difficulties were associated with the local climate and language barrier. The life of Bulgarians and the work of “Glavbolgarstroy” company in Western Siberia laid a strong foundation for economic activity that gave rise to a large inflow of Bulgarian migrants to Russia in the 1990s. As a result, according to all Russian censuses in 2002 and 2010 Tyumen region had the largest community of Bulgarians registered in Russia. Today Bulgarians in Western Siberia are present as third-generation migrants; they play a significant role in the socio-cultural and economic spheres of Tyumen Region. A large number of them maintain emotional bonds with their motherland and keep in touch with their families and close people in Bulgaria.

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