Moscow Electrical Equipment Plant

Moscow Electrical Equipment Plant 

(full name, V. V. Kuibyshev Moscow Electrical Equipment Plant), one of the largest enterprises of electrical industry in the USSR. It manufactures transformer equipment for power lines with voltages up to 1, 150 kilovolts (kV), for electrothermy, and for transformer technology.

The plant was established in the 1920’s on the initiative of V. I. Lenin. Operation began in 1927, and the plant was officially opened on Nov. 4, 1928. The plant provided transformers for construction projects during the early five-year plans. During the Great Patriotic War (1941–45) the plant produced military equipment and transformers. In the immediate postwar period the prewar production volume was equaled and then significantly exceeded. Power equipment manufactured at the plant is installed on power lines and at large power plants. In the 1950’s the plant introduced production of three-phase autotransformers for 200 kV and reactance coils for 550 kV; the latter were first installed in the power line from the V. I. Lenin Volga Hydroelectric Power Plant to Moscow.

Until the 1950’s the Moscow Electrical Equipment Plant was the only specialized industrial enterprise in the country engaged in the manufacture of transformers for various purposes. The rapid development of electric power engineering required the construction of additional transformer plants. Workers at the plant rendered valuable assistance in designing the new plants, in organizing production, and in training personnel.

In addition to transformer equipment, the Moscow plant also manufactures electric household appliances, such as irons and bells. Between 1940 and 1973, production was increased by a factor of 4. Part of the production is exported. The staff is among the initiators of emulation aimed at early fulfillment of production quotas. As of early 1974, about 3, 500 workers had been named Shock Workers of Communist Labor. The plant has been awarded the Order of Lenin (1931) and the Order of the Red Banner of Labor (1939).

G. A. LERNER