KHUJAND, May 31, 2011, Asia-Plus -- The Lenin statute in Khujand was dismantled on May 30.  The statue dismantling operation began after 5:00 pm and was finished by 9:00 pm.  The statue was transferred to Victory Park on the right bank of the Syrdarya River, where pedestal was already built for the statue.

The statue in Khujand, which is believed to be the highest monument to the Bolshevik revolutionary leader in Central Asia, was built in 1974.  A 12.5-meter pedestal was constructed from black gabbro and the statue at the same height was constructed from stainless steel.  The statue was constructed by sculptor N. Schcherbakov and architects V. Veselovsky and I. Gunst.

In Soviet times Khujand was called Leninabad and Sughd was called Leninabad province.  After a referendum in 1990 Khujand reverted to its historic name; Sughd followed suit in 2001.