Lekrastrest

The last days of Lekrastrest. Photo by Vladimir Petrov. Lecratrust was created in 1930. The buildings were built in 1935. Lekrastrest was engaged in collecting medicinal plants and processing plant raw materials. But the main occupation was the procurement of raw opium. Natural climatic conditions contributed to the cultivation of poppy with a high content of morphines in Kyrgyzstan. In the 1950-1960s, the republic produced 16% of the world's legal opium production for the needs of the pharmaceutical industry (80% of which was in the Issyk-Kul region). There were entire collective farms that were engaged only in opium production. For example, in 1956, 151 thousand kg of raw opium were collected from poppy fields of collective farms in the Issyk-Kul region alone. In the 1970s, due to the lack of a UN mandate for the production of opium as a raw material for the pharmaceutical industry, the cultivation of poppy in Kyrgyzstan was prohibited. Drying opium in Lekrastrest. Photo from the 50s from Victor Trusov’s album.