Veles Farm

The farm “Veles” is the enterprise of the village of Verkhovye of the Onega district of the Arkhangelsk region, which produces milk and meat products, as well as social projects. The enterprise employs a large part of the villagers.

In 1991, Olga Zaitseva, a teacher, created the first farm in a dying village. Specific living conditions in a small village led to the fact that the business of Veles soon became social.
Although it is private, the farm builds roads, bridges, a club. It provides weddings and funerals for free, has a point of catering – round the clock, unprofitable.

Social effects
Thanks to the farm created by Olga Zaitseva, the school again started working in the village (before that the nearest school was twenty kilometers away), a paramedic center appeared (nine kilometers from the village earlier) and even a museum of Russian life. Today, the exposition “Mardinskaya Starina – Onega district” includes more than 3000 exhibits. The village began to attract tourists.

The farm plays an essential role in the socialization of the villagers (including people released from prison).

In 2003, the head of the farm Olga Zaytseva became the “Best Entrepreneur of the Arkhangelsk Region” and the winner of the All-Russian competition “Woman Director of the Year 2004”. In 2013 she became one of the winners of the All-Russian contest of projects “Social Entrepreneur-2013”.