Prospekt Mira

There's nothing much left from the Soviet times propaganda on the Peace avenue (Prospekt Mira) in Moscow - just a decoration with the name "peace" in four languages and a mosaic with Felix Dzerzhinsky, the founder of KGB.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

Abandoned factory in Malta

There's abandoned factory in Malta, a small town in Latvia. Quite a few interesting relicts, such as the information desk for their local cinema and culture house, or some decorative installation from 1990 that feature not only nationalistic symbols but also a hammer and sickle.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

Pioneers palace in Moscow

This is a young pioneers palace in Moscow which of course today is just called a youth activity centre, but it has kept its Soviet time exterior and also a sculpture of Alyosha. Such centres were in every major town in Soviet Union and served for children's after-school activities, such as creative work, sport.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

Shop Nr.1 in Demene

Abandoned shop in Demene, a place south of Daugavpils in Latvia.
Photo by (c) Arnis Balcus

PMK

PMK, written in Cyrillic, stands for Передвижная Механизированная Колонна or "mobile mechanized column" in English, today simply to be called a building company. Dozens of such PMK's were building houses for factory workers all around Soviet Union. Often the workers would use red bricks to built in some communist slogans but in this house in the outskirts of Daugavpils, Latvia they decided to include their own "company's" name.

Photo by (c) Arnis Balcus 

Informal Lenin

Most monuments of Lenin portray him as a cool headed leader with him showing the way with his lifted hand. However there are also less formal monuments in Russia, for instance, Lenin chilling out with his wife Krupskaya (Prospekt Lenina, Moscow), Lenin in youth (Park kultury, Moscow) and Lenin in casual dress with one hand in his pocket (ulitsa Kominterna, Nizhny Novgorod).

Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus 

Pioneers

There were quite a few pioneer summer camps in Jaunstropi, the district of Daugavpils, Latvia, but today some of these camps have been turned into guest houses. In one of those guest houses still stands a small monument with pioneers.

Photo by (c) Arnis Balcus

Gas station

This is an old Soviet time gas station sign found by the highway in Ogre, Latvia. 

Photo by (c) Arnis Balcus

Circular kinopanorama

Krugovaya Kinopanorama is a cinema in Moscow that shows films on a circular screen with a  360° view. It works that 11 cameras synchronously project the film on 11 screens. The cinema opened in 1959 in all-Russia exhibition centre and works up to this day showing 20 minute Soviet documentaries.

Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

Visaginas

Visaginas was established in 1975 as a town for workers in the Ignalina nuclear power station. Unlike Prypiat which was build too close to the plant (2km), Visaginas is 6 km from the plant. The population now has grown to over 33 thousand people and most of them are Russians. Even now the place resembles an ideal Soviet town with a lot of schools, kindergartens, wide alleys, leisure centres, playgrounds, parks, shops and a lake with small beach.

Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

WC

These are a couple of old public toilet signs found in Valmiera and Riga. 

Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

Komjaunietis

Surprisingly the cinema in Dagda, East Latvia still has its Soviet times name - Komjaunietis which means a komsomolec, a member of the Communist Union of Youth. However, despite the fresh paint it is not clear whenever the cinema still works.

Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

VVC

Vserossiyskiy Vistavochny Centr aka VDNKh is all-Russia exhibition centre in Moscow. The centre opened in late 1930s as a trade show for Soviet Union's economical achievements and it still operates, however more as a market place. The area consists of 82 pavilions or 400 buildings in total and some of the former Soviet republics still hold a pavilion, for instance, Armenia and Belarus.

Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

Ignalina nuclear power station

The Ignalina nuclear power plant is the only atomic station producing power in the Baltics. It is located in Northeast Lithuania, about 30 km from the Latvia's second biggest town Daugavpils. It's structure is similar to the infamous Chernobyl plant and thus will be closed at the end of 2009 due to safety requirements from EU.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

Glory to labour

There goes another built-in slogan of Soviet era - glory to labor. Written in Russian and found in Dagda, East Latvia.
Photo by (c) Arnis Balcus

Gaisma

The cinema Gaisma (Light) in Valmiera looks almost like in 1951 when it was built. However Stalinist architecture has only remained on exterior of the building, the interior is totally reconstructed.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

Kremlin gas station

This is an old gas station on Volchonka in Moscow that can be used only by cars of Kremlin garage. It is rumored that in a few years this place will be demolished in order to give space for a new art museum.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

Seda

Seda is a small town in Latvia built in early 1950s for workers of peat extraction industry. The town is famous for Stalinist architecture and also for the fact that most inhabitants are Russians. They also have a narrow-track rail that is still used for transporting peat and bringing laborers to the work.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

Valka/Valga

Valka and Valga are twin towns that were separated by the Latvian and Estonian border until 2007 when both countries joined Schengen zone. Before it was almost like East/West Berlin. But even now both cities run independent life, except for the fact that people from Valka very often cross the border to shop in Valga because in Estonia VAT is lower than in Latvia.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

Soda machines

Such soda vending machines of various decades (from 1960s to late 1980s) were available all over Soviet Union. Today they can be found in the museum of Mosfilm studios in Moscow.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus