One of the authors of the world's first project for drilling wells with a depth of 15,000 meters, under the leadership and with the direct participation of which the world's deepest Kola superdeep well was drilled.

Until the last days, he served as director of the Kola Superdeep Research and Production Center.

He died on October 14, 2011.

Doctor of Technical Sciences (1997). Honored Geologist of the RSFSR (1984). Laureate of the Prize of the Council of Ministers of the USSR (1985). Honorary Citizen of the city of Zapolyarny (1991).

The well is located in the Murmansk region, 10 kilometers west of the town of Zapolyarny. The well was laid in the northeastern part of the Baltic Shield, in the area of ​​junction of ore-bearing Precambrian structures typical of the foundations of ancient platforms. Unlike other largest superdeep wells, which were drilled for purely practical purposes - for oil, gas or geological exploration, the Kola well was drilled exclusively for scientific research problems. First of all, this is the confirmation of theoretical models of the structure of the lower layers of the earth's crust (granite and basalt), the search and study of the nature of the boundaries between them (Konrad's boundaries) and the Earth's mantle (Mohorovichich's surface). However, as a result of drilling, neither a pronounced alternation of layers of the lithosphere, nor any pronounced boundaries between them were found as a result of drilling.

SG-3 had the status of a secret object, since it was located in the border zone, next to strategic mineral deposits, and in addition, the USSR protected its scientific priority in the study of the lithosphere. However, already in the early 1970s, one of the leaders of the Academy of Sciences of Czechoslovakia visited the rig. In 1975, the Minister of Geology Alexander Sidorenko wrote about the Kola Superdeep in the Pravda newspaper. In 1984, Moscow hosted the World Geological Congress and an exhibition dedicated to it, at which one of the stands covered SG-3. After the congress, an international delegation of geologists and journalists arrived in the Zapolyarny settlement, who were shown the drilling rig in action, they took out and disconnected 33-meter pipe sections, cores, and drill heads.

Although it was expected that there would be a pronounced boundary between granites and basalts, only granites were found in the core throughout the depth. However, due to the high pressure and elevated temperature, the physical properties of granites greatly changed.

As a rule, the lifted core scattered from active gas release into the cuttings, as it could not withstand a sharp change in pressure. It was possible to take out a solid piece of core only with a very slow ascent of the drill, when the "excess" gas, while still being compressed to high pressure, managed to escape from the rock.

The density of cracks at great depths, contrary to expectations, increased. There was also water at depth, filling the cracks.

Researchers have identified 12 levels in the well, distinguished by their physical properties. Deeper levels generally had higher isotropy (uniformity). At the middle levels, high anisotropy suggested the tectonic activity of the layers.

Although in the process of research a lot of valuable information about the earth's interior was obtained, the results were largely unexpected, and on their basis there was no clear understanding of the nature of the earth's mantle and the essence of the Mohorovichich surface.

At a depth of five kilometers, the ambient temperature exceeded 70 ° C, at seven - 120 ° C, and at a depth of 12 kilometers, sensors recorded 212 ° C