这里在1960年代中期就开始积极探勘石油，当地质学家的报告指出有庞大的石油藏量尚待开采时，克里姆林宫就组织了一支热忱的「先遣部队」，驾着推土机，以军事行动的风格大举开凿油田，希望提高产量。后来发现西伯利亚西部的黑金甚至多到超乎所有人的想象：在过去40年，这里已经汲出700亿桶以上的石油。

Oil exploration began in earnest here in the mid-1960s. When geologists reported that large reserves of oil were waiting to be tapped, the Kremlin organized a frenzied military-style invasion of "pioneers" and bulldozers to ramp up production. Western Siberia, it turned out, had even more black gold than anyone had dreamed: More than 70 billion barrels have been pumped over the past 40 years.

汉特—曼西自治区的首长亚历山大‧菲利片科表示，在早期，「整个西伯利亚都是尚未开拓的领域。」这位地方首长看起来比他的实际年龄58岁还老，头发浓 密灰白、双眼湿润，长满斑点的鼻子看来饱受冻伤之苦。菲利片科于1970年代早期来到汉特—曼西，奉命在鄂毕河上搭建桥梁;这条河在19世纪末是肮脏的驳 船将囚犯运送至最终放逐地点的途径。造桥计划在严酷的环境下，历经四年艰辛的努力才完成。然而尽管困难重重，这位首长想起当时，就像是一个老人在回忆年轻美丽的初恋情人一样。

In the early days "Siberia was all frontier," says Khanty-Mansi's governor, Alexander Filipenko. The governor appears older than his 58 years, with a shock of gray hair, watery eyes, and a mottled nose that has weathered its share of frost. Filipenko arrived in Khanty-Mansi in the early 1970s with orders to lay a bridge over the Ob River, which in the late 19th century was a route for squalid barges transporting prisoners to their final places of banishment. The bridge project took four years of toil under brutal conditions. Yet despite the hardships, the governor looks back at that time the way an old man might recall his first love for a beautiful young woman.