Changes in Ownership and the Khokhloma Painting Initiative
A transfer of ownership took place involving the Khokhloma Painting enterprise, a prominent project in the realm of traditional Russian folk art. Elada Nagornaya, who is married to the former mayor of Nizhny Novgorod, Oleg Sorokin, shifted the company’s shares into regional stewardship after submitting a formal letter of intent to donate her stake. The development was reported by RBC and marks a notable moment in the region’s cultural management.
Following Nagornaya’s gesture, Governor Gleb Nikitin expressed appreciation for her contributions to the enterprise and for supporting the safeguarding and ongoing growth of Khokhloma Painting. Under the new arrangement, the enterprise’s operations will be monitored by Sergei Yakovlev, the Minister of Tourism and Crafts for the Nizhny Novgorod Region. The regional authorities, acting in the capacity of founder, aim to preserve the core team and ensure continuity of leadership and performance throughout the transition.
Nagornaya highlighted that the Khokhloma painting project represents a large-scale initiative in the sphere of folk art, underscoring its cultural significance and potential for regional development.
Oleg Sorokin’s public service career in Nizhny Novgorod includes a tenure as mayor from 2010 to 2015, followed by a role as deputy chairman of the regional legislative assembly from 2016 to 2018. In 2017, he faced bribery allegations and was subsequently sentenced in March 2019 to ten years in a maximum-security penal colony. The court case shed light on a series of actions linked to the development and governance of local enterprises.
According to court findings, in 2013 Sorokin, at the request of an associate named Mansur Sadekov, attempted to influence the leadership of Vektron CJSC with a substantial financial offer to secure a favorable outcome for Ingradstroy in a land development auction that covered 453 hectares. The proceedings also touched on Sorokin’s involvement in the 2004 kidnapping of Mikhail Dikin, a former deputy chairman of the regional legislative assembly, where a security guard was forcibly taken and compelled to testify about those who ordered the attack.
In August, upon a request from the Prosecutor General’s Office, 1.5 billion rubles were seized from Oleg Sorokin and associates linked to him and transferred into state revenue. The court noted that these funds originated from profits of Ingradstroy, which Sorokin allegedly directed through proxies from 2014 to 2022.
A notable note in the region’s public memory is the earlier iconography of the Khokhloma painting, which has traveled into symbolic roles beyond the studio. A rocket once bore imagery of Khokhloma and was connected to Baikonur, illustrating the art form’s reach into national identity and heritage narratives. This broader context underscores why the Khokhloma project holds significance for cultural policy and regional branding beyond purely commercial considerations.