The Lachplesis collective farm ( Latvian Kolhozs "Lāčplēsis" ) is an agricultural enterprise operating in Soviet times in the Latvian SSR and in the first years after the restoration of independence of Latvia. It was one of the most efficient and richest agricultural complexes of the republic. The collective farm was created and led by the participant of the Great Patriotic War, the communist Edgar Kaulins , who was awarded the highest labor distinction for this work - the title of Hero of Socialist Labor . The collective farm was in Lielvard .
| Lachplesis | |
|---|---|
| Type of | collective farm |
| Year of foundation | 1948 |
| Closing year | 1996 |
| Industry | agriculture , food industry , fur farming |
| Products | Canned fruits and vegetables, consumer goods |
History
Creating a collective farm
In the late 1940s, collectivization began in the Latvian SSR. The creation of a collective farm in Lielvard parish was entrusted to the party organizer , front-line soldier Edgar Kaulins. The collective farm was recorded on June 23, 1948, which allowed the team to annually celebrate the Ligo folk festival, which was not on the list of official holiday dates at that time.
Kaulinsh was able to convince the parish residents of the advantages of collective farming and mechanized cultivation of the land, thanks to which they almost completely joined the collective farm and there were no rich individual farmers left with whom the struggle was unfolded during the March 1949 deportation .
Business Activities
Under the leadership of Edgar Kaulins, who remained the permanent leader of the collective farm for 30 years, the collective farm became one of the most successful farms in Latvia. According to the Small Latvian Encyclopedia (1968), for 1966 the fixed assets of the Lachplesis collective farm were estimated at 1 million 777 thousand rubles [1] . Its fields were cultivated by 26 tractors, 10 combines, 20 trucks. The total number of collective farm members has reached 692. Since the beginning of the 1950s, soil analysis methods developed by academician J. V. Peive [2] have been used to intensify agriculture on the collective farm.
The main fields of activity of the collective farm were agricultural production and the food industry . The collective farm built a canning shop, a brewery, a winery, a fur farm for growing breeding minks, a greenhouse complex, a residential village with well-equipped houses.
From the first years of its existence, the collective farm introduced the principle of waste-free production and complete self-sufficiency of the entire economy. The profit was directed to the modernization of the main production, the creation and development of farms and the provision of a wide range of social services.
One of the secrets to the success of the collective farm was the correct personnel policy . The standard of living of collective farm workers significantly exceeded the average in the Latvian SSR. The collective farm form of ownership gave greater independence and made Lachplesis a kind of "state in the state", and its chairman - a significant person in the republic.
Social Benefits
The collective farm had a system of social and monetary benefits , which allowed to encourage the best workers. According to the decision of the collective farm board, benefits and benefits depended on seniority and attitude to work. The income of collective farmers was not taxed in the USSR, while the best collective farm allocated permits for sanatorium treatment, bonuses and lump-sum allowances for family events.
In the early 1980s, the salary of the deputy chairman of the collective farm ranged from 1,000 to 1,200 rubles, ordinary employees received about 300 rubles, the head of a workshop or department - 400 rubles, while the average salary in the USSR in 1980 was 155.12 rubles [3] .
Disintegration and Liquidation of a Farm
After the restoration of Latvia’s independence, Lachplesis, like most other collective farms, faced the need for reorganization. Initially, it was transformed into a unit company, which in 1996 was declared insolvent and privatized in parts. The brewery and fur farm were privatized as separate enterprises, however, the administrator of the unit company Olav Tsers tried to collect the collective farm debts from shareholders of individual enterprises formed on the basis of collective farm units, initiating legal actions [4] . A number of such claims were ultimately found to be unfounded, however, many years of litigation and the related seizures of property forced to liquidate both the fur farm Lāčplēsis ZF [4] and other enterprises into which the famous collective farm broke up [1] .
Links
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Hours In the Ogre district, a fur farm Was liquidated . delfi.lv (April 23, 2009). Date of treatment July 15, 2019.
- ↑ E. Ryabchikov, N. Khrabrova. Baltic nov // Spark: All-Union Journal. - 1954. - February.
- ↑ Average salaries in Russia and the USSR from 1897 to 2010 . Analytical Club. School of Information Analysis and Management .
- ↑ 1 2 BNN. No eksportētāja Lāčplēsis ZF mēģina piedzīt nepamatotus parādus . From the exporter, the Lachplesis fur farms are trying to collect unreasonable debts (Latvian) . BNN News Agency (September 1, 2010) . Date of treatment July 15, 2019.