Life at the Lenin Sovkhoz, Home to Russia's New Capitalist Communist Party Leader

Jan 26, 2018 - 08:01 am

The entrance to the Lenin Sovkhoz reads: “Glory to labor!” Albina Shaimuratova

One of the Lenin Sovkhoz’s kindergartens; in the background, a new apartment complex Albina Shaimuratova

A bust of Lenin, the Soviet leader after whom the Sovkhoz takes it name. Albina Shaimuratova

Dina, 28, who moved to the Sovkhoz for her young daughter in 2014. “There is everything a kid needs here,” she says. Albina Shaimuratova

A father and his son after school, which is seen in the background. Locals who do not reside at the Sovkhoz can attend the school, too. Albina Shaimuratova

Parents and their children at one of the Sovkhoz’s many playgrounds. Albina Shaimuratova

Sergei Shakarishvili, 53, has lived at the Sovkhoz for seven years. Pavel Grudinin, its director, is a good man who will do good things for Russia if elected president in March, he says. Albina Shaimuratova

Nikolai Fyodorovich, an 83-year-old pensioner was born and raised on the Sovkhoz. “I worked 40 years on the farm and have seen 10 directors come and go,” he says. “I like what [Grudinin] has built up here.” Albina Shaimuratova

Another of the Sovkhoz’s playgrounds. Albina Shaimuratova

A statue of a strawberry, the farm’s primary produce, in front of one of the Sovkhoz’s administrative buildings. Albina Shaimuratova

The Lenin Sovkhoz, a former state-run farm collective during the Soviet Union, is a thriving business that provides employees and residents with a host of amenities. It is also the home of the new Communist Party candidate in the upcoming March presidential election: Pavel Grudinin.

Grudinin has spent the large majority of his life on the Sovkhoz, and has been its director for the past 22 years. Residents say they love life at the socialist enterprise, pointing to its services for children — parks, kindergartens, a medical clinic — as the primary draw.

Read more about: Soviet Union , Communist Party

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