Vital Kremko was a Belarusian agriculturalist, the chairman of one of the most successful agricultural production cooperatives in Grodno region “Okiabr-Grodno”, the Hero of Belarus.
Background
Vital Kremko was born on February 15, 1941 in the village of Berezhna, Karelichy District, Belarusian SSR. At first, he was given the name Victor, but apparently by mistake, he was recorded as Vital in the documents. He was the eldest son of Ilya Dmitrievich and Nadezhda Pavlovna Kremko. It was the time of the World War II. Ilya's brother was a guerilla fighter, and the family was afraid, because there were many policajs (collaborationist auxiliary policemen working for the Nazi German occupation forces during World War II) in the village. As a result, Vital’s father was shot , when he was only 8 months old. Soon his mother married a widower, who had two children from his first marriage. The stepfather didn’t accept him. Vital’s aunts on the paternal line Shura and Nina, who lived in Maloseltsy village (8 kilometers from Berezhany), took care of him. Vital’s mother gave birth to 5 more children, visited him rarely, and eventually, stopped coming at all.
Education
Vital finished 8 grades of the local school in Turovec village. In 1967, he graduated from the Novogrudok Agricultural College and was allocated to Grodno. In 1978, Kramko graduated from the Grodno Agricultural Institute (today’s Grodno State Agrarian University) with the qualification "agronomist."
Career
Vital Kremko began working when he was 17 at the Karelichy limestone plant. After the army service he went to work at kolkoz, and after a few months entered Novogrudok Technical College to become an agronomist.
He worked as an agronomist at the kolkhoz “Komsomolets”. In 1969, he joined one of the best kolkhozes at that time “Progress" in Vertelishki. He was appointed the Head of the Golovnichi section (a huge part of the kolkhoz) by the kolkhoz chairman Fyodor Sen’ko. In 1970, Kremko was awarded a medal "For Valiant Labor." Soon, he entered Grodno Agricultural Institute. The new chairman of the kolkhoz “Progress" Aleksander Dubko appointed Kramko his Deputy.
In September 1984, Vital Kremko became chairman of the kolkhoz "October" in Kvasowka village, Grodno region. Under his leadership, “October” became one of the best kolkhozes in the region. He widely developed infrastructure, built houses and new roads. Kremko developed and implemented a large part of the program for construction of enterprises for processing of agricultural products into high-quality products. Joint venture with the Austrian company for the production of chocolates, sausage shop, bakery, dairy, modern trade center in Grodno were built for the funds of the kolkhoz. Under his leadership, a brick factory was reconstructed (currently it belongs to the agricultural production cooperative “Okiabr-Grodno”).
Thanks to Vital Kremko’s great responsibility, constant search for innovative production methods, special ability to calculate and analyze the situation in the future, the agricultural production cooperative "October-Grodno" became one of the best kolkhozes in the Republic of Belarus. The enterprise entered the European level of efficiency of agricultural production. In 2004, he was recognized as a patron of the Grodno region, who actively supported culture and art. In November 2010, agricultural production cooperative "October-Grodno" was renamed to the agricultural production cooperative named after Vital Kremko.
Personality
He was a very competent, talented organizer, strong-willed, energetic and purposeful leader. He managed to create highly efficient, competitive agricultural enterprise.
Quotes from others about the person
His son Sergei remembers: One kolkhoz worker from the village stole several sacks of collective-farm grain, and then sold it in the market. Do you know what father did? He picked up a whole machine of grain, drove it to his home, poured out in the yard, and kept the cost off the worker’s salary. He always acted fairly by all men. This is a rare quality now, unfortunately.
Connections
Vital Kremko met his future wife Valentina Busel while studying at the Novogrudok Agricultural College. In May 1965, they got married. They had 3 sons.
