I’m writing a story set in 1950s Yakutia, for which I’ve been doing as much research as I can without overloading my brain with info. The main antagonist is a member of the local soviet who administers a large diamond mine and effectively controls the local economy/government because of this. Is a situation like this accurate? How was an enterprise like a diamond mine run in the 1950s USSR? I know that private ownership of companies had almost completely been banned in the Soviet Union since the 1920s, apart from “collectivized” farms. How would the antagonist be able to administer the mine (or the local government, for that matter) without being a CEO or president, which, needless to say, wasn’t possible in 1950s Russia?
Thanks in advance!
Individuals mines and industries were ran by appointed heads and directors. Their administration would be heavily influenced by the district's party committee, of which the director would be a ranking member of. The mine itself would often also have a party cell and party committee, which the director might serve as the head of. Directors were appointed by the appropriate party body, either provincial or possibly from the all-union party itself.
The difference between the Soviet manager and manager in a capitalist enterprise is that instead of answering to private shareholders, he answers to highers up within the Communist party to achieve quotas and requirements in the same way CEOs in capitalist countries are suppose to serve shareholder's interests. However, they are also suppose to be a lot more open and accessible to workers and their families if they have concerns which need to be addressed.
In your case, your antagonist would be appointed director by the provincial central committee, he would be head of the mine's party committee as well. Perhaps he himself would be a member of Yakutia ASSR Communist party's central committee. Effectively functioning as a tyrannical and corrupt local Communist Nomenklatura, of which there were plenty in the Soviet era.