When he was a boy, Agriculture Minister Nikolai Fyodorov feared roving wolves on his way to school.
The school was seven kilometers away from his remote village, a distance that he covered by foot. In spring, the school break lasted longer than for most other Soviet children because slush and rains turned the ravines on the route into deadly traps.
Those rough times left indelible memories — so much so that he set about improving rural life in his native Chuvashia as soon as he came to rule the republic years later, in the early 1990s.
"On becoming Chuvashia's president, the first thing I decided was to create comfortable living conditions in the villages," Fyodorov said in a Monday meeting with reporters to introduce himself in his new capacity. "What prompted it may have been that I had seen them on my own."
Longtime president of Chuvashia before he stepped down in 2010, Fyodorov received the agriculture portfolio in Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's Cabinet announced last week, in a move that prompted questions about his links to the industry.
Outside the classroom, Fyodorov helped his father grow vegetables in their family garden. The patch had a greenhouse ё perhaps the only greenhouse in the republic — at a time when the Soviets frowned on too much private property, he said.
"The first cucumber or the first tomato that appeared on the outdoor market in Cheboksary came from the Fyodorov farm," Fyodorov said proudly, referring to the republic's capital.
His father was the son of a rich peasant dispossessed in 1929 and later wounded fighting for the Soviet army in the assault on Nazi-held K?nigsberg during World War II.
The rural programs he started in Chuvashia as president — linking all settlements with hard-surfaced roads, providing natural gas as a household fuel, introducing a network of family practitioners modeled on Canada's, building schools and libraries — were to make farming attractive as a business, he said.
"I wish my father and I had these conditions in those years," he said, after stating that he completed most of the programs.
His goals now are to create similar conditions across the country, he said.
Fyodorov will also seek a "new industrialization" of agriculture by assisting farmers to buy energy-efficient equipment and new technologies, he said.
As another goal, he wants to increase the use of mineral fertilizers to industry standards, something farmers can ill afford now. Fyodorov said, without elaborating, that he would push for measures to reduce prices.
Fyodorov replaced Yelena Skrynnik, and the change showed in the reception area of the minister's office. Gone are the full-length mirror and the shiny artificial apple tree.
Fyodorov completed his post-graduate studies in Moscow's State and Law Institute the same year, 1985, as Larisa Brycheva, whom President Vladimir Putin reappointed as his legal aide last week. Another fellow student was Dzhakhan Pollyeva, a longtime Kremlin aide and State Duma chief of staff since January.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.
