The Russian President Vladimir Putin went all out earlier this month for the 51st birthday of his mini-me, Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev, presenting him with a Socialist Realist painting by artist Nikolai Ovchinnikov called On the Shop Floor (1975) depicting a yellow tractor. The gift was particularly appropriate since it was presented at a meeting in Crimea between Putin, Medvedev and government officials about the long-awaited, multi-billion dollar construction of a 19-kilometre, road-rail bridge linking Russia to the Ukrainian peninsula, which was annexed in 2014. Putin presented the painting on live television with the words: “This corresponds to what Dmitri Anatolievich [Medvedev] is working on today.” Everyone laughed and both Putin and Medvedev appeared to be pleased. Putin’s parting words to the gathering after handing over the painting were: “Now, let’s try to do some work.”
