Text 8. URALVAGONZAVOD
URALVAGONZAVOD (Uralsky railcar building plant) is a unique machine building facility possessing powerful technological and intellectual potential being of the Russia's largest science and engineering complexes. Over its 65-year history URALVAGONZAVOD has pioneered the development and manufacturing of high quality machines of the World’s class. UVZ (short for URALVAGONZAVOD) has been awarded six Orders of Glory in Labor and Warfare.
UVZ manufactures about 100 product types including: combat tanks, escort vehicles, freight gondola cars, special wagons, tank cars for various applications, crawler-mounted and wheel excavators, multifunctional utility machines, cryoengineering products, products for agriculture, consumer goods. UVZ has been repeatedly awarded international prizes for outstanding contribution into the development of Russian economy and making high quality and competitive products.
URALVAGONZAVOD has pioneered the national space industry. From the early 50s the company has performed the orders awarded by the national space administration: designed and manufactured equipment for the first manned space ship, orbital ships «Vostok», «Voskhod», «Proton», the multifunctional system «Enyergiya-Buran», equipment for storing of propellant and refueling of spacecraft for the floating spaceport under the International Program «Sea Launch».
URALVAGONZAVOD dates back to October 1936 when the first gondola car was manufactured. The giant of industry was constructed within an extremely short period: it took just a bit over five years to deploy a powerful record-breaking facility on the low lands of deep taiga forests. UVZ is an entire town with streets and squares and special in-plant transport.
To the WWII the URALVAGONZAVOD had produced about 35,5 thousand high-capacity cars. After the war had begun the UVZ engineered and started a mass conveyor-type production of combat tanks T-34 for a sensationally short while. Working day and night and making 1500% in excess of the planned output in extremely hard conditions the Tagil citizens had made 35 thousand legendary and awesome combat tanks during the war period.
Over 60 years the URALVAGONZAVOD has manufactured the best performing combat tanks in terms of fire and gear, on the full scale basis thanks to extensive operational and scientific expertise, advanced design engineering, hi-tech production engineering, fundamental testing capabilities and an efficient quality control system. The tanks' extreme reliability and quality has been proved in service in severe conditions of real warfare in many regions of the World within a wide range of climatic and road conditions. The workers and the city are rightly proud of the WWII's best tank T-34 as well as T-54; T-55: T-62; the XX century's most frequent T-72. T-90S is a tank of the next generation, which is another victory of Tagil at the arms market.
Over its entire history the URALVAGONZAVOD has been equipped with the thereat most advanced forging, machining, steelmaking facilities. This factor has largely helped change over to making new civil machines required by the country's economy.
There has never before seen the city of Nizhniy Tagil, heretofore kept obscure, so many visitors from abroad, the stars of Russian science and technology as well as journalists as in July 1999. Visitors from over 70 countries and 126 domestic defense companies arrived at an exhibition ground of the Nizhniy Tagil Institute of Metal Testing (NTIMT) to participate in the first exposition of arms and combat vehicles and witness the Russia's «shield and sword», i.e. everything the Russia's «oboronka» has been so proud of.
Last exhibitions are significant both for Nizhniy Tagil and Russia. They helped evoke assurance and prove Russia is still among the World's leaders. Nizhniy Tagil proved its status of a large industrial center, the city of artisans, businesspeople and enthusiasts.
In 2008, Uralvagozavod produced about 175 tanks: 62 T-90A for the Russian Ministry of Defence, 60 T-90S for India . This represents the highest level of tank production at Uralvagonzavod and in Russia as a whole since 1993. Moreover, according to Moscow Defense Brief, it would appear that in 2008 the number of tanks produced by the company was greater than the number of main battle tanks produced in all the other countries of the world taken together. Railway cars and other civilian production amounted to 2/3 of the company's overall output in 2008.
In 2011, the company's revenue was $3 billion, and net profit was $0.33 billion.
The Corporation mission extends over improvement of quality of life of its employees, i.e. active improvement of working conditions, support of social sphere facilities viz. Palace of Culture, Ice Palace, swimming pool, stadium, health care facilities, camps.
URALVAGONZAVOD implements a number of socially significant programs embracing all aspects of employees’ life, i.e. disease prevention and medical treatment, health improvement and recreation for adults and children, development of physical culture and sports, providing entertainments, supporting veterans and youngsters.
According to the data of American publication “Defence News”, URALVAGONZAVOD falls within 100 world largest military-industrial complexes. In 2009 it has ranked the 80th position by the rate of production of military equipment among world manufacturers and the 3rd position among Russian manufacturers.
Further development of the Corporation lies in completion of shaping the vertically-integrated structure of Research and Production Corporation URALVAGONZAVOD. Formation of powerful industrial complex on the basis of market methods and government regulation is in progress. On the one hand, the members of the Corporation unite to increase capitalization and fulfill the assigned tasks on providing the domestic economy with the products required for its development and on boosting the national defense capability. On the other hand, the Corporation enters the sales markets, including the world ones, with competitive products.
Since April 10, 2009, Open Joint Stock Company “Research and Production Corporation “Uralvagonzavod” has been guided by Mr. Oleg Sienko.