The story
The plant was built during 1931–1936, mostly during the second Soviet five-year plan. It opened on October 11, 1936, and was named after Felix Dzerzhinsky. Initially, it manufactured freight cars. Its design and construction were influenced by American industrial practices of the era. As part of Stalin's rapid industrialization program, the Soviet government contracted several U.S. firms—most notably Albert Kahn Associates of Detroit—to assist in designing large-scale industrial plants modeled on American automotive factories, particularly the Ford River Rouge complex. Uralvagonzavod was among the most ambitious of these projects, intended to produce railway cars and tractors.
While not part of any U.S. government initiative, the collaboration relied on American industrial expertise, which the USSR paid for in hard currency and gold, during a period of severe domestic economic strain. Some of this capital was raised through grain exports taken from Ukraine and other regions during collectivization, contributing to the 1932–33 famine. Though intended for civilian production, factories like Uralvagonzavod were later converted to military purposes, such as T-34 tank production during World War II—validating early U.S. concerns that such industrial infrastructure could be repurposed for warfare.
After the German invasion of 1941, Joseph Stalin ordered hundreds of factories in Ukraine and western Russia to be evacuated east. The KhPZ Factory No. 183 in Kharkiv was moved to Nizhny Tagil by rail, and merged with the Dzerzhinsky Works, to form the Stalin Ural Tank Factory No. 183. During the Second World War it became the largest producer of tanks in the world, including the T-34. For its services, Uralvagonzavod received several honorary awards between 1941–1945, including the Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1942), Order of the Red Banner (1943), Order of Lenin (1944), Order of the Patriotic War (1945).
After the war, tank production was scaled down. Part of the Vagonka's manufacturing and design assets were transferred back to Kharkiv's Diesel Factory No. 75 during 1945–1951. Uralvagonzavod was expanded to produce other kinds of machinery: agricultural, construction, aviation, and space, including design and production of the Vostok, Voskhod, Proton and Energia expendable rockets.
Aleksandr Morozov left UVZ to lead the tank design bureau in Kharkiv in 1951, taking many of his engineers with him. Morozov was replaced by A. V. Kolesnikov in the interim. Leonid N. Kartsev was promoted to Section 520 chief designer in 1953, days before the death of Joseph Stalin. After his promotion, Kartsev was approached by the NKVD and told to hand over his jewish workers. Kartsev refused. The conflict was resolved following a coup led by Nikita Khrushchev that removed Lavrentiy Beria from power.
At the Kartsev-Venediktov Design Bureau (OKB-520), the T-54A and T-55 (a development of Morozov's T-54), T-62, T-72, and T-90 tanks were designed. The design bureau was working on a next-generation main battle tank, rumored to be called the T-95, until this project was cancelled in May 2010. It manufactures Russia's newest main battle tank, the T-14 Armata.
In July 2014, the Obama administration imposed sanctions, through the US Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) by adding Uralvagonzavod and other entities to the Specially Designated Nationals List (SDN) in retaliation for the ongoing annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by the Russian Federation and the Russian interference in Ukraine. The United Kingdom also imposed sanctions from 12 September 2014.
As of December 2016, UVZ has been transferred to Rostec, following a presidential decree.
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In 2020, the company's revenue amounted to 28 billion rubles.
In 2022, Uralvagonzavod was placed under additional sanctions as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In March 2022, the EU imposed sanctions on Uralvagonzavod after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
From Wikipedia’s article on Uralvagonzavod, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3