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Online translated (orientative only)

Oilfields of Borislav. The history of the edge through the prism of antique securities.

City of regional subordination in the Lviv region. The only city in the world, located on an industrial oil and gas deposit and gas field. That's what Wikipedia says about Borislav. It was called "Ukrainian Kuwait" and "city of cripples". Since the school we remember that "Borislav smyetsya ...", not everyone remembers what is behind this phrase, but in memory it is firmly entrenched thanks to the great Ivan Franko.

Borislav - an interesting story of discovery and pride, entrepreneurship, hard work and blood, frustration and fear, human hopes.

The thread that has come to us through the ages as a reminder of the history of Borislav is old-time securities of the heyday of oilfields in Borislav. They also served as a stimulus for me, not a great connoisseur of Ukrainian history, to study her page devoted to oil production.

How it all began

The fact that there is oil in Borislav, and people called it "boiling", was known back in the 13th century, but our ancestors did not know the price of this knowledge. They collected it practically from the surface of puddles and used as a remedy against various animal diseases, and even against plague, and also for the production of wheeled ointment. Oil was traded in the markets, and in 1810 the first government permits for oil production in this area were given to businessmen Joseph Hecker and Ivan Mitis.

The oil boom in Borislav began after 1853, when Lviv pharmacist Jan Zeg produced distillation of oil, separating it into separate fractions, using sulfuric acid and soda. The resulting product, kerosene, was used to illuminate streets and premises. That's when the feverish search for oil began in Borislav.

In 1859, the first oil refinery was built in Borislav, and in 1860 hundreds of mines already existed in Borislav.

Another impetus to the development of oilfields was the opening in 1872 of a railway branch that connected Borislav with Vienna.

For comparison, in 1865 in Borislav there were about 6 thousand wells, including 165 - for ozocerite extraction, whose role in the production of paraffin only became known; and in 1875 (10 years later) there were already about 12,000 wells that belonged to 75 large and 175 small enterprises. The maximum depth of the wells at that time was about 208 meters. In 1870, oil production in Boryslav was 11.2 thousand tons, in 1886 - 90 thousand tons.

Borislav - Ukrainian Kuwait, or as we became an oil power

After the introduction of mechanical (piston) drilling of wells in 1893-1896, the main oil fields in the territory of Borislav were discovered. As a result, production increased from 562.19 thousand tons in 1906 to 1,937.62 thousand tons in 1909.

It was then that Galichina occupied the third place (by about 5%) in terms of oil production in the world after Russia and the United States of America. The years 1907-1913 were marked by the highest oil production in Borislav for all time. In 1908, the deepest mine, 1,016 meters deep, was drilled under the name "Oil City", in which about 3,000 tons of oil and 900,000 cubic meters of gas were produced daily.

In fact, the Borislav oil industrial region is one of the oldest in Europe. Throughout the history of the oilfields, about 40 million tons of oil and 15 billion cubic meters of gas were extracted here.

The capital of the Borislav oil industrial region. The history of one society.

The entire oil industry in the district was controlled by approximately 88.5% by foreign companies. The origin of capital was this:

France - 50.3%

Austria - 7.2%

United States of America - 4.8%

Other - 26.2%

It is not known for certain what proportion the Belgian company Societe Anonyme PETROLES DE BORYSLAV had in the district's industry, but shares and bonds issued by this company have survived to the present day and are well known to the script-writers. The Society was founded in Antwerp (Anvers) on May 23, 1905. The formation of its authorized capital took place approximately as follows:

• June 1905 - 1 000 000 francs, 10 000 shares with the nominal value of 100 francs;
• March 1906 - 2 000 000 francs, 10 000 shares with the nominal value of 100 francs;
• December 1906 - 3 000 000 francs, 10 000 shares with the nominal value of 100 francs;
• January 1913 - 5,000,000 francs, 10,000 shares with the nominal value of 100 francs;
• January 1913 - 7,000,000 francs, 10,000 shares with a nominal value of 100 francs;
• January 1920 - 10 000 000 francs, 10 000 shares with the nominal value of 100 francs.

In 1920, the company issued 20,000 bonds with a par value of 500 francs, bringing income to holders at a rate of 5% per annum. Loan payments were made since 1935.

I believe that in this way, a couple of hundreds of private firms, whose peak of activity fell precisely on the "golden years" of the Borislav deposits, increased their capital and turnover. I recall that after the First World War, the territory of Galicia and modern Borislav was controlled by Poland, until 1939 - the invasion of German troops. It was then that the activities of all 234 private companies were terminated.

Retreating under the onslaught of the Soviet Army, Hitler's troops ravaged the Borislav oilfields. They burned, blown up, drowned mines, factories, pipelines.

After the Great Patriotic War, since 1945 the association "Ukrneft" and its subdivision "Borislavneft" have become successors to what is left of the oil refining industry of the region. The modern enterprise "Borislavneftegaz" develops 13 deposits, which annually bring about 100 thousand tons of oil and 30 million cubic meters of gas.

Personnel decide everything - the people of Borislav

In a very short time since the beginning of the oil fever, almost all the land previously owned by the inhabitants of Borislav was purchased by local and foreign entrepreneurs. The peasants chased the money that the businessmen promised, and as a result fell into real slavery - the money was soon over, and the land-wet-nurse was no more. It remained to be employed by workers in the mines.

In addition, the city has grown at the expense of visitors who want to earn a small but reliable penny in the oil fields. So, from 1859 to 1910, the number of residents of Borislav grew from 621 to 15,145 people.

Until 1893-1896-ies oil was extracted in a primitive well way. Imagine, a man was lowered into a well, to a depth of 200 meters, where he was threatened with water, collapsed and suffocating accompanying gases. The air in such wells was 10 times less than the person needed for normal breathing. Every day the mines burned, taking away human lives and injuring them. No wonder the expression "city of cripples" appeared. People worked in wet, dirty clothes, lived in dirty barracks, as they could not afford to rent any other dwelling. At night in the barrack it was so tight that it was impossible to turn; they drank from grief and despair; tried to fight for their rights, and again went into the mine with the hope for the best ... Ivan Franko devoted these novels to his story.

Borislav today. Does it laugh?

At first glance it is clear that Borislav is a city of oil workers. Oil is mined right in the residential areas. No one here is surprised by the oil rig in the middle of the park near the monument.

Also, no one is surprised at warning signs about the ban on using open fire in basements. The fact is that the city dwellers in the literal sense of the word "live like a volcano."

Right under the city - many kilometers of empty abandoned mines. In the city there were cases when trees and even houses just fell through the ground. Often, such voids are filled with debris. People are afraid that any minor earthquake can lead to the destruction of the city.

In addition, the voids store one more danger - the gas that has accumulated there for decades, penetrates into the cellars of residential buildings.

The scale of oil and gas production decreased, at the town-forming enterprise "Borislavneftegas" employs about two thousand people while the city has about 37 thousand inhabitants. Many able-bodied people go to work abroad.

Borislav does not laugh, but lives, works, and, as before, believes in the best.

Alexandra Kamyshina

Society of Kievan Skripophil

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  Нефтяные промыслы Борислава. История края через призму старинных ценных бумаг.