Russian boss says 'get religious or get sacked'

A Russian dairy tycoon who employs 6,000 workers have warned his staff not to opt for abortions and urged those "living in sin" to get married or lose their jobs.

According to a report carried by AOL, Vasily Boiko has set October 14 -- a Russian Orthodox Church holiday -- as deadline for everyone to fall in the religious way to keep their jobs.

The man who had earlier served jail term for fraud allegations in 2007 changed his name to Boiko-Veliky, or "Boiko the Great", said he expected his employees to "be faithful and to repent."

The order was issued as an internal memo at Russkoye Moloko (Russian Milk) whose products are available at several supermarkets in that country.

He had earlier told Ekho Moskvy radio that a woman who opts for abortion can no longer be part of his company. "We don't want to work with killers." he had said.

One employee said the man was not so religious and it was an epiphany while in jail that made him religious.

He even blames people who live in "sin" for the recent heat waves and forest fires in Russia. "Such an extreme situation is punishment for the Russian people's sins," he told daily newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda.

Government officials however say Russian labour laws do not sanction such extreme measures.