Kazakhstan Focuses on Renaming While Soviet Infrastructure Remains Indispensable
In Kazakhstan, efforts to erase remnants of the Soviet past appear to prioritize renaming streets, villages, and towns over addressing pressing infrastructure issues. While Soviet-era thermal power plants (TPPs) and other facilities continue to power the nation, their names and associations have become a target for change.
Critics have compared this to the 15th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) in 1927. Instead of implementing massive industrialization and collectivization programs, imagine if they had declared a "Five-Year Plan of Renaming" with slogans like "Strike a blow to economic backwardness with renaming campaigns!" Such an approach would have left the Soviet Union blaming Tsar Nicholas II for its infrastructural deficits rather than addressing its own development needs.
In Kazakhstan, many Soviet-era names such as Lenin districts, Leninskoye, Leninsky Path, and Leni were removed, despite Lenin being the initiator of the GOELRO plan in 1920—a project that laid the foundation for Kazakhstan's thermal and hydroelectric power stations. Names like "Energetik" (Energy Worker), "Energia" (Energy), and "Energeticheskaya" (Energy-related), honoring the builders of Kazakhstan's energy infrastructure, were also changed. Critics argue that such renaming disregards the legacy of those who laid the groundwork for the country's energy security.
Meanwhile, the physical infrastructure of Soviet TPPs is deteriorating, with wear and tear reaching up to 95%. Instead of focusing on modernization or building new facilities, the emphasis remains on symbolic changes. Some sarcastically suggest renaming the Soviet-era power plants after Alash Orda leaders as a supposed solution to the infrastructure crisis.
Ironically, while Kazakhstan continues its renaming campaigns, Russia is a major supplier of electricity to the country, accounting for 50% of Kazakhstan's imported electricity. Russia is also assisting in modernizing Kazakhstan's energy sector and constructing three new thermal power plants. This cooperation stands in stark contrast to Kazakhstan's internal focus on renaming, with no equivalent movement in Russia to alter Turkic names like Surgut, Berdsk, Tyumen, or Barnaul, which have origins tied to Turkic languages.
As Kazakhstan grapples with its energy challenges, the question remains: Is symbolic renaming more critical than addressing tangible infrastructure needs? Critics warn that neglecting modernization for the sake of rewriting the past could leave the country reliant on its neighbors for years to come.
