Territorial dispute between Kalmykia and the Astrakhan region

The territorial dispute between Kalmykia and the Astrakhan region affects three separate sections of the territory with a total area of ​​390,000 ha (areas of 3271 km², 214 km² and 486 km², total 3,983 km² ^[1] ).

Stalingrad region and Kalmyk ASSR, 1939

A prerequisite for the territorial dispute was the publication of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of December 27, 1943 "On the Elimination of the Kalmyk ASSR and the Formation of the Astrakhan Region as part of the RSFSR." In accordance with the Decree, the districts of the former Kalmyk ASSR — Dolban , Ketchenerovsky , Lagansky , Volga , Troitsky , Ulan-Kholsky , Chernozemlysky and Yustinsky and the city of Elista — were included in the Astrakhan Region.

On May 28, 1954, by Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 1023, rights to lands west of the Kizlyar-Astrakhan railway were assigned “for eternal use” to collective farms in the Astrakhan region. In 1955, the land surveying expedition of the Ministry of Agriculture of the RSFSR established the boundaries of collective farm lands on the “Black Lands” and issued state acts for the eternal use of land by the Executive Committees of the Astrakhan Region.

In accordance with the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR dated 01.01.1957 “On the Formation of the Kalmyk Autonomous Region within the RSFSR”, the Kalmyk Autonomous Region was formed as part of the Stavropol Territory . The Kalmyk Autonomous Region from the Astrakhan Region includes the western part of the Nikolsky and Enotaevsky districts , the Roadside Village Council of the Volga Region , the western part of the Limanskiy District (the former Dolban District of the Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic), the eastern border of which is established along the Astrakhan - Makhachkala railway line (at the Basinskaya station section ) and junction number 8) ^[2] .

The disputed territories of Kalmykia and the Astrakhan region (the two main sections are highlighted)

By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR of January 9, 1957, part of the territory of the Astrakhan Region was to be included in the Kalmyk Autonomous Region . According to paragraph 2 of the said Decree, the executive committees of the Stavropol Territory and the Astrakhan Oblast were instructed to submit for approval by the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR a schematic description of the border of adjacent territories with the Kalmyk Autonomous Oblast. By virtue of Article 19 of the Constitution of the RSFSR (1937), which was in force at that time, the approval of borders was within the competence of the bodies of state power and administration of the RSFSR. However, since 1957, in accordance with the established procedure, the description of the borders of adjacent territories has not been approved ^[2] .

Due to the lack of a final decision on the specific border crossing, the land transfer procedure from the Astrakhan region of the Kalmyk Autonomous Region, established by the then Instruction of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of 01.20.1931, “On the transfer of territories allocated to the new administrative unit or transferred from one administrative unit to another, ”did not take place ^[3] .

Referring to the resolution of the USSR Council of Ministers in 1954 , the Astrakhan region refuses to return the disputed lands of Kalmykia. From 1957 to the present, the Astrakhan authorities have repeatedly appealed to the leadership of the USSR, the RSFSR and the Russian Federation with a request to transfer the disputed territory to the region and establish a border between the two regions for the so-called "actual land use" ^[4] .

The severity of the situation is added by the location in one of the disputed sections of the rather large village of Basy and 87 kilometers of the Caspian pipeline consortium pipeline ^[5] .

The issue of ownership of disputed land plots was the subject of consideration in the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation. By a resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated 10.01.2003 No. 7056/01 in the case No. A06-1-14k / 2001 it was established that the dispute is not an economic one, subordinate to the arbitration court. The issue of changing the boundaries between the subjects of the Russian Federation is decided in accordance with part 3 of article 67, subparagraph "a" of part 1 of article 102 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation .