In accordance with the Program, the village of Korfovka, Ussuriysky District, Primorsky Krai, located on the border with China, became their place of residence.

In Korfovka, the Murachevs received the allowances due to them under the Program (120 thousand rubles for the head of the family and 40 thousand for wives and children), they were also compensated for the cost of air tickets. With this and the money they brought with them, they bought some equipment, livestock, plowed up 30 hectares of leased land, grew a good crop of vegetables, dug up 80 tons of potatoes, only a part of which they managed to sell - they seem to have begun to settle down.

Then, in an interview with the regional press, Alexander Gavrilenko, deputy head of the administration of the Ussuriysk urban district, said: “You know that they always require separate residence because of the peculiarities of their religion, and we met them halfway. But for now, temporarily, each of the four families will receive two or three-room apartments in a comfortable building with centralized heating and water. Then, in a simplified form, they will receive Russian citizenship. This will take three to six months. As you know, this procedure usually takes years. At the same time, they will be engaged in the construction of housing in the place allocated for them. The place is very beautiful, fields, forests and a clean river nearby. After registration of documents for home ownership, we will allocate agricultural land. Large plots of 20 hectares or more will be allocated for them.”

The Old Believers were really temporarily settled on the territory of the former military garrison, in the apartments of a half-empty five-story building, where the military used to live. The leadership promised assistance in the construction of their village and land registration. A year after their arrival, on February 1, 2012, all repatriates received Russian citizenship, which was reported on the central Russian TV channels.

“The one we especially want to thank is the Federal Migration Service,” says Ulyan Murachev. “We have no complaints about them, only gratitude.” All 56 people from the Murachev clan became Russian citizens with record speed and without much delay.

But this "problem-free" period ended.

“In Korfovka, we learned that the state allocated 46 million to build houses for us,” says one of the Murachev brothers, Ivan. - We all heard, stood in a bunch, while the head of the settlement, Natalya Vasilievna Kolyada, talked about this. She said: so, they say, and so, they gave you such money for housing, is that enough for you? Brother Ulyan says: “We are very grateful that it will be so. Of course, this money will be enough for us to build housing, but is it possible to copy this sheet so that there are guarantees that it will be for us? But she refused. And so it all went missing. We didn't build anything. And someone stole 46 million. But in the end, after that, this Gavrilenko showed us some old shed and said: “Disassemble it.” We asked "Why?" And already the head of the settlement, Natalya Vasilievna, said: “Well, take building materials from this shed, there will be enough for two or three houses.”

THE STATE HAS ALLOCATED 46 MILLION TO BUILD US HOUSES. NOTHING IS BUILT. A 46 MILLION SOMEONE STOLE

In April-May of the same year, the Murachevs, who did not receive the promised land, equipment and their own houses, having lived in Korfovka for a year and two months, some for less, moved to the remote and semi-abandoned village of Dersu, located in the Krasnoarmeisky district of Primorsky Krai.

The main reason for the departure of the Old Believers from Korfovka was that they realized the complete futility of their plans to obtain land on a large scale and build their own housing. Ulyan Murachev describes all the promises of local officials with a capacious phrase - "everything went to zero." In addition, in Korfovka, located in the border zone, four kilometers from the Russian-Chinese border, it was required to issue a special pass for any guests or relatives who wanted to visit the Old Believers; in its absence, the inviting party had to pay a considerable fine.

Efrem Murachev shows the documents for the land. The Old Believers were promised a huge amount of land, but they received only 50 acres each. 2017

Pasture in Dersu. German philanthropists helped the Old Believers with the purchase of cows. 2017

“The Ussuri authorities were not very pleased,” says Ulyan. - But they themselves are to blame, because what they offered us - everything turned out to be laughable. It also seemed sad to us: will we live in a five-story building for five or six years? There they smoke, and swear, and that's all, but we have small children. There were drunkards, drug addicts - all sorts of things. There was enough noise. They said: maybe we will break down some old house and build one or two houses, you will live for five or six years, and then we will build something else.

Moving from Korfovka to Dersu, the Old Believers took their families away from the rudeness and drunkenness of "worldly life."

Dersu

“In 2007, the Udege Legend National Park was created on the territory of the Krasnoarmeysky District, and I was its first director,” says a handsome man with a broad gray beard, Fedor Vladimirovich Kronikovsky. - When the park was created, then, naturally, with its appearance, it introduced the obligatory implementation of laws regarding nature management. And on this basis, a few years later I had a conflict with the inhabitants of local villages. The Dalnekuts (residents of the village next to Dersu) lived "according to the concepts" that they thought it was right to do what they thought. And when the national park came, and strict laws were introduced in the territories of their residence, they perceived it as oppression. And somehow, in a local recreation center, residents arranged a gathering to meet with me. And during this gathering, one of the locals said: “Here you are oppressing us, we will leave here”, Well, I said that “you leave - others will come”, and in response I heard: “Ha-ha-ha! What a fool would go here!” A month passes, and suddenly the Old Believers arrived. For me it was familiar. I didn’t know them yet, but I immediately imagined that these were people who would have a different attitude to the current situation. And I, despite their peculiarities and difficulties, were not deceived in my hopes.

In the past, a geologist, chairman of the Roshchinsky village council in the 1990s, organizing director of the Udege Legend park in the 2000s, now retired Kronikovsky is one of the few local residents who continues to endlessly help the Old Believers. In addition to constant letters with requests - to the governor, president, prime minister, Kronikovsky tries to convey their problems to the public. When 76 Old Believers-repatriates arrived in Dersu, there were only eight local residents in the village. Living conditions were far from ideal: electricity from an old diesel engine was only for a few hours a day, the road was in a deplorable state, there was simply no bridge across Bolshaya Ussurka, and you could only get to the big world by a suspension bridge, and by car - only on ice in winter, or in good weather on an old makeshift ferry. The Old Believers settled in dilapidated houses: they bought some from unexpectedly found owners, they were allowed into some for free, and somewhere they simply “came in” and began to live. Kronikovsky wrote about the housing issue of one of the Murachev brothers - Ivan and his nine children in a local newspaper, which helped to find a benefactor who paid for the construction of new housing. Kronikovsky helps the Old Believers with the preparation of papers and documents, as well as in communicating with the authorities. It is in the absence of such a person - responsible for the implementation of the resettlement program on the spot - that Fedor Vladimirovich sees the key to most of the problems that have befallen the settlers.

“They came to abandoned houses, although it was impossible to call this a house, they were ruins. And then the "owners" appeared, who began to pull money from them. Moreover, according to the “program”, all of them are entitled to housing. But there was no one who at a basic level would help them legally. And in general, the whole approach of the program was not worked out - the specifics of the contingent were not taken into account. Neither the level of education, nor their skills, nor how their elementary legal issues, issues in everyday life will be resolved - for example, he has a sowing crop, but he cannot go for diesel fuel, because he has Bolivian rights that are invalid in Russia, and his cops catch (know that he has no rights). Or they went to the employment bureau, got registered, they were identified - you go there, you go here. And in the end, it is impossible to find a job for them, because they do not even have a school education. And in general - the program does not imply control or any analytical work, no changes and no additions were made to the program. That is why "it died."

Fedor Kronikovsky at his home in the village of Roshchino. 2017

Dersu village. 2017

Today, the residents of the village of Dersu do not have their own agricultural land, which they have been promised many times: each family owns only 50 acres for household purposes. Of course, with the advent of the Far Eastern Hectare program, everyone who wished to apply for registration of small plots of land in ownership, but there is no need to talk about serious land that the authorities have repeatedly promised to allocate. The administration of the district provided land plots for rent to the settlers, but, having learned their cost, the Old Believers realized that they could not afford to take this land. And the land itself left much to be desired. Once upon a time, arable land not only needed land surveying, also at their expense, but also overgrown for a long time, becoming unsuitable for agriculture. Now it costs a lot of money to put them in order - an average of 20 thousand rubles per hectare.

There is also no credit support. Ulyan Revtov, who was the last to move from Bolivia to Russia under the resettlement program, in 2015, became the only one who until recently had no problems with the state, since he simply did not contact him and acquired 800 hectares of land in the same Krasnoarmeisky district of Primorsky Krai, 100 kilometers from the village of Dersu, and bought the necessary equipment for about 250 thousand dollars. I started planting soybeans, harvested the first crop, but not very successful, since most of the time was spent on moving and settling in a new place. For the sowing campaign of the next, second, year of life in Russia, he planned to take a loan, but was refused. If banks refuse four million rubles to the owner of 800 hectares of land and equipment worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, then what can we say about the inhabitants of the village of Dersu, who own only tiny plots, old huts, broken tractors and an old rusty combine ...

“There is leasing in Russia,” says Ulyan Murachev, “but at 28% per annum. And the monthly payment, but where do I get the monthly payment in agriculture? I just took a loan, and the next month I have to give it back. And I harvest once a year. And my income is once a year. And if I withhold money from the loan and pay the monthly payment with it, then they will cost 17% more. I got this from the bank too. And in order to earn money every month, I need to change my lifestyle, give up everything we went for, move closer to the city, open a store and sell my products there.

Without loans, there is no technology. Old Believers, accustomed to working on modern John Deere or New Holland combines with GPS navigation and an air-conditioned cab, now have to harvest soybeans on a rusty, broken, two-piece Yenisei combine that looks more like a mountain of scrap metal. There was also "Putin's tractor". By order of the prime minister, after a conversation with Alexei Kilin, some Far Eastern company bought it, but Kilin moved to live in the Amur Region and took the tractor with him.

But the biggest problem that puts the whole life of the Old Believers-migrants on the brink of survival is the lack of firewood. It's no joke, the Old Believers living in the forest do not have not only timber for the construction of their own houses and outbuildings, but also firewood for heating.

But the biggest problem that puts the whole life of the Old Believers-migrants on the brink of survival is the lack of firewood.

“We are here as tourists! Ulyan exclaims. We can't cut down a single tree. We can't take anything from here. The locals command us like tourists.”

According to the law, each family is entitled to a plot for felling, for 30 cubic meters of firewood. But the site is not located somewhere in the village or near it, but hundreds of kilometers away. And even if the villagers had the opportunity to get to this site, only companies that have received a license from the state have the right to cut down. In general, every year you have to write a power of attorney for the right to cut down firewood and pay off the forestries for the services of cutting down and delivering natural wood - the Old Believers are ripped off like sticky.

A migrant from Bolivia Andrei Murachev with his wife Anastasia and son Gleb. Dersu 2017

It is forbidden for the Old Believers to use the zalomnik (dead forest) for heating in winter. Dersu 2017

“For the winter, each family was brought four cubes of firewood. I told the head of the district: “Will four cubic meters be enough for you for the winter?” “No, of course,” he answers, “you need at least 20!” Next winter, all the families will go to the administration to warm up, says the village headman. - The same goes for construction. The residents of the village are entitled to 100 cubic meters of timber, we give a power of attorney - and they bring us 15 cubic meters. We have several people who have already written this power of attorney, and each was brought from 15 to 20 cubic meters. They say the costs are high! We live in the forest, and we can’t touch a tree here to cut down for our own use.

But the patience of the Old Believers snapped when they were forbidden to saw the “stranger” - trees nailed to the shore by the Bolshaya Ussurka. Hundreds of cubic meters of ownerless forest lie within walking distance of the houses, but the head of the district and her deputy strictly forbade even touching the forest.

“We don’t take them away,” says Ivan Murachev, standing on giant piles of fallen trees. “But they are there to help the people. After all, the head of the administration takes office for the sake of the people. Why do we vote for her if she does not help people? We were clearly told: if we cut down a pilgrim, they will give us a suspended sentence, but if we cut down a living tree, we will get a real one. And how can we live here? We entrusted our lives to them when we left Bolivia, and they do nothing but put spokes in our wheels. It's just unbearable."

“WE ENTRUSTED THEM WITH OUR LIVES WHEN WE LEFT BOLIVIA, AND THEY ARE ONLY DOING TO US WHAT THEY ARE PUTTING INTO THE WHEELS”

“We lived in Bolivia, went to La Paz, asked the director of the national park. He says: they have a law there that if you live inside, you have the right to cut down five hectares of forest for your own use, in the same way you have the right to fish or meat. And if you are lucky to sell, then you will be punished, because this is poaching.
At first it was like: we stopped in Bolivia - the most destroyed country. And now the situation is this - there in the west we are much more developed than here. And here, who is engaged in crop production or animal husbandry, they are trying not to support, but to destroy. If we are trying to sell something that we have grown, then claims are immediately against us. We are trying to sell milk - immediately claims, they say, we have overwhelmed the market. The veterinarian is starting to make claims. Is this development or destruction? - asks Ulyan.

The Old Believers have enough problems with the local population. The locals do not understand and do not accept the way of life of the community. They don’t understand how one can not work during religious holidays or pray for many hours on end, observe fasts, not drink or smoke, not scream or swear.

But what irritates the locals most of all is that the community constantly demands that the state fulfill the promises received from it. They write letters, they write complaints. “We have men who work, and do not ask for help from the state,” a local entrepreneur in the village of Roshchina tells me. “And the Old Believers always turn to the administration, then to the region, then to Moscow.”

“Thank God,” says Ulyan, “my godfather in Bolivia advised me: “don’t go just like that, go according to the program.” I thank him to this day. If it weren't for the program, we would have moved back a long time ago. Still, we have at least some attention. And without the program, we would not have achieved any attention at all.”

Ulyan replies with resentment and pride to the attacks of the locals: “When we arrived in Dersu, there were only a few houses here, and show me if any of them have their own household now? And we are “loafers” - and everyone has their own farm, livestock. We all work and survive."

Bolivian migrant Ivan Murachev

girl burning garbage

To date, the headman of the village Ulyana and his sons have the largest farm - several dozen cows. The family began to take dairy products to the local market 50 kilometers from the village. But then a sudden check from the veterinary services found that all the Muragev cows were sick with the leukemia virus.

“They took a sample from us in the fall, and they came and reported about it in the spring. I ask, - says the son of Ulyana Ephraim: - “Where were you? Why didn't they tell us right away? And they answer: "All cows must be killed." Well, we opposed, we say that it is necessary to conduct an examination again. They did it - and it turned out that the virus was found only in a few cows. What is it? Development or destruction? It turns out that they wanted to destroy our entire herd.”

The Old Believers do not believe that the remaining cows are sick either. According to them, as well as to farmers from neighboring villages, the head of the veterinary service, who produces dairy products herself, is simply trying to remove competitors for the production of quality dairy products from the market.

Problems of the Far East are solved in Moscow

According to the apt expression of the Far Eastern journalist Victoria Mikishi, the main problem of the Far East is that its problems are solved not on the spot, but in Moscow. And this is true, but it seems that it will no longer be possible to unwind the whole tangle of problems without the intervention of the federal center and the federal authorities.

In March 2017, Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church Kornily met with President Putin. The content of the meeting is briefly described on the website of the presidential administration: “The issues related to the life of the Old Believer Church, its activities and development prospects were discussed.” However, the residents of Dersu see this meeting as a chance to solve their problems.

Metropolitan Kornily has long defended the interests of the inhabitants of Dersu and other Old Believer communities in Primorsky Krai before the state. Back in 2016, he addressed Vyacheslav Volodin, in which he listed all the problems described in this article. The then first deputy head of the presidential administration to sort out the issue to the presidential representative in the Far Eastern Federal District Yuri Trutnev and Governor Vladimir Miklushevsky.

But the problems of the villagers were not resolved, despite the attention of high officials. A response was written on the received paper, and everyone calmed down on this.

Sometimes it seems to us that God hears us better here. And the state does not listen

New hopes among the Old Believers are caused by the interest of the Ministry for the Development of the Far East and the Agency for the Development of Human Capital in the Far East. One of the indicators of the success of these two departments is the demographic growth of the population in the region. And who, if not the Old Believers with their huge families, can contribute to this? And so, in Moscow on April 25, 2017, a meeting was scheduled under the leadership of the Minister for Far East Affairs Alexander Galushka with an invitation via video link for Old Believers from the Far East and potential immigrants from Latin America.

Molenna (prayer house) during the Easter service. Dersu. 2017

“How to interest the Old Believers so that they come from there? - asks Ulyan Murachev. - And it is necessary to ask the state: can those people believe that they will be able to improve life here? We, immigrants, try with all our heart to somehow survive in our country. Why shouldn't other Old Believers praise God in our holy country? All of them would tearfully want it. But how can this be done when we are being driven from here in the neck? We try to make statements for the state, so that it would be easier for them to invite [other migrants], but they don't try at all for us. Ask any of us - no one wants to go back to Bolivia. Sometimes it seems to us that God is closer here than there. We even think that God hears us better here.

But the government is not listening."

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The Old Believers from the village of Dersu in the Krasnoarmeisky district of Primorye turned to the governor Vladimir Miklushevsky with a request to help in obtaining additional land plots in order to expand the area of ​​agricultural land.

Last Tuesday, the head of the Primorsky Territory visited the Old Believers, who eight years ago moved from Latin America to the village of Dersu. The settlement is located on the right bank of the Bolshaya Ussurka River, which was cut off from traffic by a flood not so long ago.

The chairman of the community, Ulyan Murachev, gave the guest a short tour of the village and spoke about the basics of the way of life of immigrants from Latin America. According to him, the Old Believers built 19 houses on this land for their families. Now 72 people live permanently in the village, 30 of them are children.

All children are homeschooled, a teacher comes to visit us twice a week. Also, a pediatrician regularly comes to the village and conducts medical examinations of the children. FAP regularly works in the settlement, - said Ulyan Murachev.

During the discussion, the Old Believers asked the governor to settle the issue of obtaining additional land plots. According to the migrants, the hectares received by the villagers under the program to support large families are not enough to feed all the inhabitants of the community. The village lives exclusively at the expense of agriculture and new lands are simply vital for them.

Vladimir Miklushevsky, in turn, gave a corresponding instruction to the department of land and property relations of the region. The department will have to resolve this issue together with the head of the municipality as soon as possible.

The land still stands empty for many years, and people want to work. Solve this issue, - said the head of the region.

The local administration promptly responded to the governor's order, noting that the Old Believers could expect to receive a demarcated plot of 200 hectares after a number of formalities had been resolved.

The head of the region was also told about problems with electricity. There is one diesel substation in the village, which supplies electricity to the houses only in the morning and evening. Alena Grigoryeva, General Director of Primteploenergo, said that the organization is ready to start solving the problem. First of all, a power line will be fixed and insulated in Dersu, and then a new automatic diesel generator of the Sever type will be installed in the village.

This will allow you to turn on electricity for a longer period and automatically regulate its supply. We will complete all the work before the onset of winter, - Alena Grigorieva assured.

During a working trip to the village, the governor instructed to repair the roads leading to Dersu and solve the problem with firewood.

Director of the Department of Transport and Road Facilities Alexander Shvora noted that road repairs will be carried out in the area between the villages of Dersu and Dalniy Kut, as well as in the village of Old Believers.

As for firewood, let the local timber industry enterprise come here, as, for example, we did in the village of Melnichnoye, now the residents have no problems with firewood at all,” the governor instructed the head of the municipality.

In addition, the Old Believers were invited to take advantage of regional support measures and apply for a grant in the amount of three million rubles. With these funds, in particular, you can buy cattle.

Note that the village of Dersu is a hinterland of Primorye, where cellular communications have not yet been established. In this regard, Vladimir Miklushevsky presented the chairman of the community, Ulyan Murachev, with a satellite phone so that the villagers could report incidents to the relevant structures in a timely manner.

Communication should always be, suddenly something happens. And you can always call me, - the head of the region emphasized.

Recall that the governor of Primorye Vladimir Miklushevsky on Tuesday, June 6, was on a business trip in the north of the region - in the Krasnoarmeisky district. The main purpose of the trip is to check how the area has been restored after last year's Typhoon Lionrock.

In the village, his guests are greeted by a brand new sign "Dersu", which indicates to the traveler that he is close to the goal. But among the locals, this name is not in honor - the Old Believers call their new settlement as they once called their ancestors who lived here - Laulya. In honor of the famous guide Vladimir Klavdievich Arseniev, the village was renamed after the well-known events on Damansky Island, which led to a massive change in the Chinese names of settlements in Primorye to more politically correct ones at that time.

And yet, one who has made such a long journey to these parts is unlikely to regret anything. The real a Russian village, as if descended from the pages of Russian fairy tales.

All, as one, bearded men in national shirts with patterned embroidery and sashes, women in flowery sundresses to the toes, barefoot children dressed in the same manner ... An unusual dialect, which, despite its unusualness, you understand without much difficulty. Getting to Dersu, as if you are making a journey into the past - everything is so unusual and amazing.

Latin American Old Believers are the descendants of those who escaped in the 18th-19th centuries. from the religious persecution of the Russian state in Siberia and later in the Far East. In these regions, many Old Believer settlements were created, in which ethnic Russians and ancient religious traditions were preserved. The local Old Believers for the most part belonged to a special sense in the Old Believers - the so-called chapel (transitional between priests and bespopovtsy).

At the "chapels" the functions of spiritual leaders are performed by competent mentors chosen from among the laity. Living conditions in the expanses of Siberia and the Far East of Russia hardened them, forced them to live exclusively on their own farm and made them more closed and conservative than the rest of the Old Believers.

In accordance with the established canons, a woman should have as many children "as God wills", and it is considered a sin to prevent pregnancy.

In economic and family life, modern technology (tractors, cars, refrigerators, washing and sewing machines, etc.), electricity are widely used. Another thing is the spiritual life. Watching TV, going to cinemas, reading secular literature, using the Internet is strictly prohibited. Usually, the Old Believers do not sing secular songs, trying to maintain piety, but they celebrate the holidays very solemnly, with songs and dances, of course, those that do not contradict their religious principles.

For food, they mainly use products obtained in their farmsteads. But a number of products - salt, sugar, vegetable oil - have to be bought in the store.

But further exploration of the village brings a little disappointment - quite modern Japanese cars, mostly jeeps, and various kinds of agricultural equipment - tractors and combines are parked near centuries-old houses rickety from old age. Technological progress has not bypassed these places.

Tired of journalists

On the advice of knowledgeable people, we get to a brand new house, standing on the very outskirts of the village. Ulyan, the first of the five Murachev brothers, who reached these places, shakes the bags of flour together with his son and numerous grandchildren, preparing them for the imminent harvest. Having patiently listened to our explanations, he politely hints that he has not prepared for the guests, and "there have been frequent guests in his house lately, especially journalists."

As it turned out, the writing and filming brethren occupied Dersu back in the days when the first settlers from South America appeared here. In 2008, the current head of the community Fedor Savelyevich Kilin and his relatives paved the way from South America to the then dying village. Following the pioneers, other Old Believer families moved to Dersu, settling in houses abandoned by the former population of the village. Since then, journalists and correspondents from all over the state, and not only Russia, visit here, like a museum, almost daily.

- Only yesterday the Englishman left, stayed for three days. And before him came with cameras. You understand us, we can't be "famous", it's not supposed to, faith forbids. Yes, and they will write, it happens, it’s like everything is bad here and we are dying here. Our then read it there, and do not want to go here! Shame! We are tired of you, you understand!- Ulyan gets excited, but quickly moves away and explains to us the essence of the problem.

They are trying with father-in-law Fyodor Kilin to convince their numerous relatives who remained in a foreign land to move here.

- And as soon as we “be famous”, they don’t want to go to us, they say, “It’s bad for you there, we won’t go!” And we do not complain about anything, everything is fine with us. We returned home and with God's help we will solve everything ourselves, all problems. So write it down- Ulyan complains.

It seemed that Ulyan really had nothing to complain about - behind him was a large brand new house, not the oldest agricultural machinery for various purposes was parked nearby, there was not a new, but a solid, Japanese SUV. There is a garden and a farm - chickens and about three dozen cows. On such a state, as it seems, it is really a sin to complain.

- There are some difficulties with the ground,- nevertheless, Ulyan admits, inviting us to his house after many hours of Saturday prayer and the obligatory bath.

The thing is that, while agitating the Old Believers to return to their homeland, the embassy workers did not skimp on promising the settlers not only a solid lift under the federal program for the voluntary resettlement of compatriots, but also land for crops in demanded volumes. Upon arrival in Primorye, the South American Russians were given the lifting permits, but the Old Believers have not seen the promised allotments until now. More precisely, they saw something - only around Dersu it stands, overgrown with weeds under a thousand hectares of fertile fields (and in the entire Krasnoarmeysky region there are hundreds of thousands of hectares of unoccupied arable land), but they cannot get rent or property to this day. Russian reality turned out to be harsher than the diplomats' promises.

- They do not give land without land surveying, but it is expensive. Even if you take the smallest thing, there is a company that asks for 150-200 rubles per hectare. Where do we get such money from?, - Ulyan shares.

- Today we have only 612 hectares of free land, and all of it is assigned to the Old Believers. But we can't survey them for them, and we can't rent them out without surveying either. Some vicious circle- Anna Leonova, the head of the Dalnekutsk rural settlement, will later explain to us.

Part of the Old Believers of Bolivia and Uruguay (almost all of them are descendants of Primorsky Old Believers) arrived in Primorye under the regional target program "On Assistance in the Voluntary Resettlement of Compatriots Living Abroad to the Russian Federation." Designed for 6 years, it has been implemented in Primorsky Krai since 2007. The main goal of the program is to stabilize the demographic situation in the region, which is characterized by a decrease in the total population due to natural decline and migration outflow. Initially, the program identified six areas of settlement: 4 urban districts (Artemovsky, Dalnegorsky, Nakhodkinsky, Ussuriysky), Pogranichny municipal district and the village. East of the Krasnoarmeisky region.

The "fixed", but still not belonging to them land, the Old Believers still diligently cultivate - they sow wheat, soybeans, potatoes and other crops. The crop is harvested with the help of agricultural equipment purchased for lifting equipment issued under the resettlement program.

The Old Believers have been engaged in agriculture in all its manifestations for centuries, passing on skills by inheritance. Children here are taught to crop and livestock breeding from an early age - to cultivate the land and raise livestock in these glorious people in the blood.

- We are all diggers, and we do not need another. Our ancestors did it, we do it, and our children will do it,- says Ulyan.

Hope for "Trutnevsky hectare"

Dersu was not immediately aware of the idea of ​​the Far Eastern presidential envoy, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Trutnev, to distribute "free hectares" in the Far East - there is no television, like mobile communications, and never was. Important news was given to the settlers by their relatives from distant South American lands, who read about it on the Internet. The Dersu Old Believers are connected with them by a satellite payphone - one for the whole village.

- One evening they came to me in a crowd and let's ask what and how, under what conditions, when and how much land they will give. And I myself still don’t know anything, I just heard that such an idea is being discussed,- says Anna Leonova, along the way asking about the latest progress on this initiative.

We tell the head of the settlement that a draft law is being prepared and that they plan to allocate land at the rate of "one hectare per person" from the new year.

To "hectares from Trutnev" in Dersu, there is still an increased interest. Free land looming on the horizon without any land surveying and unnecessary red tape is in demand here like nothing else. But the limited size of the future allotments of the Old Believers upsets - accustomed to the successful development of hundreds and thousands of hectares of arable land, hereditary farmers of the notorious hectare per person seem too small. But, as it turned out, not all.

First of all, Ivan Murachev, the last of the brothers who moved to Dersu, is interested in us about a hectare, in whose house we are assigned for the night.

The Murachev couple with eight children moved to Primorye from their native Bolivia three years ago. At first, the settlers settled in the village of Korfovka near Ussuriysk, but, unable to withstand the hardships of an unusual worldly life for them, full of temptations and sin, they followed their relatives to the distant but calm Dersu. Already in Russia, a replenishment took place in the Murachev family - the couple had another daughter, Olechka, the ninth child in a row.

Ivan, who, before moving to his historical homeland, lost all his acquired property in a South American country, and 11 free hectares, which he can receive according to the plenipotentiary qualification, will not be superfluous.

- In Bolivia, I sowed hundreds of hectares of soybeans, but two floods in a row destroyed the entire crop, and the loans taken under it had to be paid for with all the equipment. Unlike many of ours, we returned home almost empty-handed. They would give at least as much land, you see, and would turn around over time, Ivan says.

Promised three years waiting

Unlike his brother Ulyan, who is prosperous by local standards, Ivan has neither a large farm nor large-scale crops. An old tractor, purchased with lifting equipment, an old Japanese jeep donated by relatives "for prayer", and one cow donated by his elder brother - that's all the current property of the Murachevs.

Having moved to Dersu, the family at first huddled in a crumbling house abandoned by their owners with a leaking roof - by that time other settlers had already dismantled the more or less habitable village housing stock. From the constant dampness, children began to get sick more often, and the wife of Ivan Alexandra worsened old chronic sores. So the settlers would have vegetated in an emergency housing stock, if it were not for the kind people who were personally found for the Old Believers by their main empathy - a researcher of the Old Believer culture of the Far East, chief researcher at the Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Peoples of the Far East of the Far East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yulia Argudyaeva. Through her efforts, a businessman was found in Primorye, who fully paid Murachev for the purchase of building materials for a new house, which was immediately built by Ivan and his sons. This summer, the family celebrated a housewarming party.

For all their virtues, the Murachevs pray earnestly - they ask God to reward these people for their kindness and participation. But they cannot yet ask God for the state servants, who promised them, as well as other settlers, all kinds of assistance and assistance in a new place. They have been waiting for three years - Ivan and his family will not wait for either help or assistance from officials.

Promises, as usual, were many and what! They also promised interest-free loans, and what kind of equipment you want for leasing. But in local banks, the overseas bearded brothers Ivan and Elisha just manage to give a turn from the gate - go, they say, to those who promised, let them give you loans and leasing without collateral and a business plan. And there is no one to go to - the diplomats who promised mountains of gold are far away, in Bolivia, and local officials only shrug their shoulders - we did not promise anything. And so the Murachevs are fighting with Russian reality, and so far they do not despair. On the advice of kind people, as expected, they registered a joint agricultural enterprise, apply for loans wherever possible.

- First of all, we need a combine to sow soybeans faster and then harvest. You need to start, but without technology in any way. We will refund every penny, but we need to start somewhere. Someone would help, they would pray for a century,Ivan doesn't give up.

Forest of prohibitions

The Old Believers of Dersu are ready to talk endlessly about agrarian affairs. They know the work of their ancestors "in and out", in many agricultural areas they even have their own developments that have been successfully applied in the same place. They would apply here, especially if there is anyone.

Ivan has four sons, each of whom does not see himself as a farmer in the future. Three of them - Savin, Nikon and Evstafiy - are already on the threshold of adulthood. 18-year-old Savin, as the oldest, according to local traditions, it is high time to start his own family. There is also a bride, and she lives here - in Dersu. But before marriage, a young guy needs to acquire a business and a stable income in order to support his wife and subsequent children, of whom there will be many - as much as God will give (and according to statistics, he gives a lot).

The future family needs its own housing, but without money you cannot build it even in Dersu, surrounded on all sides by wooded taiga. To saw down even pines, to put up a brand new hut for the newlyweds, to take a walk with the whole village at the wedding and housewarming, but it wasn’t there. You can't cut down a single tree in the forest just like that - the officials managed to trick it here too, including the Old Believer settlement and its environs within the borders of the Udygeiskaya Legenda National Park with all the ensuing prohibitions. Later, the border of the national park was nevertheless moved to the places where representatives of this small nationality live, but the environmental status of the Dalnekutsk settlement has not been removed so far. This is how the Old Believers live in crumbling houses and look at the boundless taiga surrounding them - the necessary building material is within easy reach, but it is prohibited.

The problem, of course, is also with firewood - it is impossible to cut and cut wood even for heating needs. What's there - even deadwood and deadwood are forbidden to the natives in the forest! But there is nowhere to go, and, contrary to prohibitions, the Old Believers drag the dead from the forest and no one except them needs the trunks, which they use to heat.

This is clearly not enough to heat homes on winter days when temperatures drop below -45°C. To such sub-zero temperatures of the south-
It is not easy for us Old Believers to get used to it, especially since not all of them are provided with good winter clothes and shoes.
Currently, the main means of subsistence come from garden crops harvested from household plots, odd jobs and the remnants of lifting
money. Many families, especially those with many children, are in poverty.

Unremoved environmental bans once nearly led to a big disaster. Heavy downpours, which are not uncommon in these places, washed out the primer connecting Dersu with the outside world in several places at once. Powerful streams of water carried away with them hundreds of cubic meters of soil that appeared on their way, making the already bad road unsuitable for traffic on any transport. For two weeks the village was completely cut off from civilization. It would have been more if the Old Believers had not rebelled and demanded that the head of the settlement urgently take action and repair the road.

- We looked at the failures and were horrified - in some places the road was simply "washed away",- recalls Anna Leonova. -Enough, but where to get so much building material, how to deliver it to the place ... Around the taiga, but you can’t cut it - a special environmental regime. But there was nothing to do, I had to make a strong-willed decision and I accepted it - I gave the green light to the felling. By common efforts they dumped 20 trunks and repaired the "hole", restored the road for some time. It flew to me, of course, then for this, I had to explain that there was no other way out. It seems to have understood.

Nobody knows how long the makeshift bridges will live, the head of the settlement adds. Every, even a small, rain washes away the "patches" placed on the road, and any good downpour can leave only memories of them. The road is in urgent need of repair.

- No one here requires smooth asphalt, but it is simply necessary to install elementary culverts, normal bridges in places of drains, otherwise history will repeat itself again and again,- says Anna Leonova.

The Old Believers themselves do not complain about the road - they say that in Bolivia and Brazil they didn’t drive along such roads. But they are waiting for the regional authorities to build normal and durable bridges. In the meantime, after the rains, they are repairing the road on their own.

Complaining about life among the Old Believers is not accepted. They have the "will of God" for everything, and hardships and ordeals are just a necessary part of their long and thorny path to Paradise. With their own strength and with God's help, the settlers are ready to solve all their problems, although it seems that deep down they understand that not everything depends only on them. It’s far from Moscow, but it’s still high to God, to whom they pray according to the preserved pre-Conian way of life. And without the help of local authorities, without political will and the fulfillment of earlier promises, the ordeals of the South American "new Russians" will continue for a very long time.

The tragic fate of their ancestors, persecuted for the faith, proves that they know how to believe in happiness and a bright future in their distant homeland, which has not yet met their expectations, better than many.

Thus, all 15 families (about 70 people) of the Old Believers who moved in recent years from Uruguay and Bolivia to Primorye ended up in the village. Dersu.

But can any, even the strongest, faith be infinite, does it have some reasonable limit? Where is the point of no return, after passing which, the Old Believers who arrived in Primorye will turn in the opposite direction, leaving the desired land to overgrow with weeds, and the built houses to rot and collapse? There have already been sad examples in Dersu - several families left to seek their fortune elsewhere.

- There would be a special assistance program adapted for them and their way of life, if they waited for the fulfillment of all promises - in a few years we would not recognize these depressive regions,- Yulia Argudyaeva is sure. -There, in South America, thousands of Old Believers are sitting on suitcases, waiting for a success story from their pioneers in Russia. And, if they wait for it, rest assured, we will see their massive return of their compatriots to Primorye, which we have been waiting for so long. I hope we wait.

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