Special Purpose Garage () is a structural subdivision of the

Federal Protective Service of Russia The Federal Guard Service of the Russian Federation ( rus, Федеральная служба охраны Российской Федерации, p=fʲɪdʲɪˈralʲnəjə ˈsluʐbə ɐˈxranɨ rɐˈsʲijskəj fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨɪ (Federal'na ...

. According to the law "On state security", Special Garage employees ensure the safe movement of the

President of Russia The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the State Council (Russia), Federal State Council and the President of Russia#Commander-in-ch ...

, the

Prime Minister of Russia The prime minister of the Russian Federation, also domestically stylized as the chairman of the government of the Russian Federation and widely recognized as the prime minister, is the head of government of Russia and the second highest ranking ...

, the heads of both chambers of the Federal Assembly, as well as the leaders of all foreign states visiting Russia. Among others, the unit is responsible for the

Presidential state car An official state car is an automobile used by a government to transport its head of state or head of government in an official capacity, which may also be used occasionally to transport other members of the government or visiting dignitaries from ...

and is a unit within the Federal Protective Service.

History

The special-purpose garage was created by the decision of the

Council of People's Commissars The Council of People's Commissars (CPC) (), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (), were the highest executive (government), executive authorities of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), the Soviet Union (USSR), and the Sovi ...

on January 1, 1921. The garage was headed by

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

's personal driver Stepan Gil. In 1922, he was replaced in this post by

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

's personal driver Pavel Udalov, who headed the garage until 1953. At various times, the garage's fleet consisted of both foreign and domestically produced cars. In the 1920s and 1930s, these were

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

Packard Packard (formerly the Packard Motor Car Company) was an American luxury automobile company located in Detroit, Michigan. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last Packards were built in South Bend, Indiana, in 1958. One ...

Isotta Fraschini Isotta Fraschini () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer, also producing trucks, as well as engines for marine and aviation use. Founded in Milan, Italy, in 1900 by Cesare Isotta and the brothers Vincenzo, Antonio, and Oreste Fraschini, in 195 ...

Vauxhall Vauxhall ( , ) is an area of South London, within the London Borough of Lambeth. Named after a medieval manor called Fox Hall, it became well known for the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. From the Victorian period until the mid-20th century, Va ...

, Lincoln and other brands of cars. From the second half of the 1930s, after the development of high-end car production in the Soviet Union, the fleet of cars became almost entirely domestic, consisting of

GAZ Gaz may refer to: Geography *Gaz, Kyrgyzstan Iran * Gaz, Darmian, village in South Khorasan province * Gaz, Golestan, a village in Bandar-e Gaz County * Gaz, Hormozgan, a village in Minab County * Gaz, Kerman, a village * Gaz, North Khorasan, a ...

and

ZiL OJSC AMO ZiL, known fully as the Public Joint-Stock Company – Likhachov Plant () and more commonly called ZiL (, was a major Russian automobile, truck, military vehicle, and heavy equipment manufacturer that was based in Moscow. The last ZiL ...

cars. In post-Soviet Russia, the fleet consisted of mainly foreign-made cars until May 7, 2018, when the

Aurus Senat The Aurus Senat () is a luxury full-size car by Russian automaker Aurus Motors and developed by NAMI in Moscow, Russia. It is the presidential state car of Russia. The Aurus Senat was retro-styled after the ZIS-110, a Soviet limousine introdu ...

was first entered into use during Putin's 2018 presidential inauguration.

References

Citations

Bibliography

*. * *{{cite journal, url=https://www.historicalreporter.ru/archive/garage-of-special-function/, title=Гараж особого назначения, journal=Исторический вестник, issue=15, year=2016, lang=ru, accessdate=2025-03-20 Federal Protective Service Garages (parking) 1921 establishments in Russia Government agencies established in 1921