Page 36 - Countertrade

SECTION ONE

For hundreds of years the Russians lived under centralising, autocratic
regimes. In April 1985 Gorbachev’s Perestroika was to change this.
Perestroika introduced the seeds of a democratic political system and the
beginnings of a market economy which was to supplant the failing Marxist
model. Inevitably, the outcome was a situation of unparalleled complexity.

The All Russia Association of the Blind (VOS) had been established in
1925. The creation of such an organisation reflected the view commonly
held in the developed world that disabled members of society should be
given employment opportunities, whether in open industry or under
specialised supervision. The aim was to ensure their full participation in
life.

VOS was structured around ‘enterprises’ that were training and
manufacturing centres employing visually impaired workers. These
enterprises also acted as the focus for the delivery of the organisation’s
welfare services. The level of provision varied from enterprise to
enterprise and included health services, schools, recreation and leisure
facilities, housing, holidays and free or subsidised food.

As expected of an organisation founded during the old regime it had a
bureaucratic structure. There were, in 1995, 189 specialised enterprises
spread throughout Russia supported by a central board and a training
centre, both in Moscow. (See Figure 1)

The Central Board, in the centre of Moscow directly opposite the old KGB
Headquarters, has an elected president who wields absolute power.
Since 1986 this position has been held by Alexander Neumavakin, a

former tank commander who was blinded in a military accident.

Soon after his appointment Neumavakin restructured the Central Board
and in the process cut staff levels from 210 to 100. A former employee
suggested that the motive was not increased efficiency but rather the
creation of circumstances under which the president’s own salary could be
increased. It was certainly true that the trappings of power and wealth
were still important: in 1994 Neumavakin ordered a top-of-the-range Saab
as his official car.