Posted on August 20, 2010 - by Venik

Russian tycoon launches crackdown on employees’ ‘sins’

Workers who have abortions or marry outside the church will be sacked, pledges Orthodox entrepreneur

Prosecutors in Russia have been urged to launch an investigation after a wealthy dairy tycoon pledged to sack female employees who have an abortion.

In a message to workers, Vasily Boyko-Veliky, the eccentric president of Russkoye Moloko (Russian Milk), also said he would dismiss anyone in a civil marriage who did not have it confirmed in a church ceremony.

The Yabloko political party today sent a request to prosecutors in Ruza district, near Moscow, demanding an inquiry into Boyko-Veliky on the grounds of violating labour laws.

The tycoon, a strict Orthodox Christian who sports a Tolstoyan beard, was indulging in “unpardonable interference in the personal lives of his subordinates”, who had a legal right to decide whether they should marry or have children, the party said.

Boyko-Veliky – who was originally just Boyko but added the second part of his surname, Veliky (the Great), in 2007 – has so far dismissed criticism of his demands, which were published in a company newsletter.

His 6,000 employees must mend their ways after being chastised for their sins in the form of this summer’s drought and wildfires, he told reporters. “We’re involved in agriculture,” he said. “A farmer relies on the will of God much more than any other kind of businessman. If this was a punishment from the Lord then we must repent and improve ourselves.”

Asked why he had banned abortions, Boyko-Veliky said: “Our country receives a lot of petrodollars and mothers get a certain allowance. There’s always a way to bring up a child.” He added: “I don’t want to work with killers. Don’t want to and won’t.”

According to the businessmen’s order, couples in a civil marriage will have to take part in a religious “crowning” ceremony in church before 24 October, a day commemorating the intercession of the Virgin Mary, or else be dismissed.

Any woman having an abortion or any person assisting one will immediately lose their job, the tycoon said. From the autumn all employees will have to undertake a course in religious culture. “The mission of our group of companies is the Orthodox revival of Russia,” Boyko-Veliky explained.

That declaration has stumped activists who thought the business was more about making yoghurt and sour cream. “We see a lot of discrimination and cynical lawlessness against women both at home and at work, but this is beyond the usual boundaries,” said Galina Mikhaleva, of Yabloko.

Even the Orthodox church itself – which has undergone a revival since the fall of the Soviet Union and enjoys strong links with the Kremlin – has balked at supporting the conservative entrepreneur.

Vladimir Vigilyansky, a spokesman for the Moscow patriarchate, said: “The exactingness of the head of this company exceeds even that of the Pharisees in the Gospel. When a woman who was guilty of adultery was brought before Christ, he said: ‘Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.’ And the Pharisees stayed silent.”

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