OJSC Bogoslovsky Aluminum Plant is one of the leading enterprises in the non-ferrous industry of the Russian Federation. Founded in 1940, it was one of the main aluminum producers in the country. Today BAZ specializes in the production of alumina and components for powder metallurgy.
To be an enterprise!
1940th For a year now, the Second World War has been going on. The troops of the Third Reich in one and a half months defeated one of the largest armies in Europe - the French, and hatched plans for the occupation of Britain. It becomes obvious that a conflict with Germany cannot be avoided, the ghost of the coming war is more and more clearly visible.
In these conditions, close attention is paid to the rearmament of the army. However, the USSR was significantly behind the potential adversary in the development of aviation. The time for plywood planes has passed, and aluminum was sorely lacking for the manufacture of modern fighters and bombers. In addition, other industries also needed this valuable metal.
Sovnarkom and the Military Central Committee make a strategic decision on the construction of a new large aluminum smelter. The area in the heart of the Urals, on its eastern slopes, near the Tura River, was chosen as a site. In the 30s, bauxite deposits of outstanding reserves were discovered here, from which valuable metal is obtained.
Labor feat
For the construction of the Theological Aluminum Plant, it was decided to attract "class enemies" - people whom the authorities considered dangerous for the Soviet system. By the forces of the NKVD, the Theologian LAG was formed, to which they dispossessed dispossessed peasants and ethnic Germans, who had lived in Russia for centuries, but which for some time had become objectionable to the authorities.
Since bonded labor has low productivity, construction dragged on. The prisoners worked out in harsh weather and in difficult weather conditions. According to official figures, every fifth worker died at a construction site. Their memory is immortalized: a monument to the prisoners of the Gulag was erected on the banks of the Krasnoturyinsky reservoir. But the most important reminder of the labor feat was the Theological Aluminum Plant itself and the city of Krasnoturinsk, which grew up around a giant plant.
Launch
With the outbreak of war, the capacities of three large aluminum enterprises were evacuated to the BAZ site: Dnepropetrovsk, Volkhovsky and Tikhvinsky. However, for the above reasons, the equipment was idle. Another cause of construction delays was an acute shortage of metal structures. After the loss of Donbass, there were not so many metallurgical enterprises, and their products were primarily sent to arms factories.
In 1943, some production facilities were commissioned; a dam was erected on the Turia River. 06/17/1943 the first ton of products was obtained from local alumina - aluminum hydroxide, used for cleaning liquids and in medicine. The first alumina (from which metal is subsequently obtained) was obtained on 04.17.1944.
By incredible efforts, by 1945, the Theological Aluminum Plant was built. Its launch was timed to Victory Day. On May 9, 1945, the first aluminum was officially smelted at the enterprise. Over time, a working village arose around the industrial site, called Krasnoturinsk.
Rearmament
The old equipment inherited from the evacuated enterprises was worn out. After the war began its replacement with more productive machines and assemblies. And it gave results. In 1948, the volume of products (mainly aluminum and alumina) increased by 4.5-5 times.
In 1949-1953, the expansion and reconstruction of the Theological Aluminum Plant continued. Contacts maintained with consumers made it possible to optimize the assortment and introduce new grades of metals and powders into production. Thanks to the introduction of new electrolysis capacities in 1953, aluminum production doubled. The construction of alumina workshop No. 2 began in 1959.
70-80s
It is quite natural that for such a large plant, modernization and expansion of capacities are a continuous process. In the 70s, a large-scale reconstruction began. At the same time, the Bogoslovsky aluminum smelter has mastered the innovative Bayer-sintering technology for alumina, which is still used today. The production of aluminum protectors for the protection of metal structures, catalysts for oil industry workers has begun, and new alloys have been mastered.
Many BAZ employees subsequently held high government posts. For example, I.V. Prokopov became deputy minister of non-ferrous metallurgy, Yu. I. Dvinin - deputy chief of NTU Mintsvetmet, ND Bakhtin - head of production of VPO Soyuzaluminiy.
Problems
By the beginning of the 80s, the company had accumulated many problems. On the one hand - a lot of wear and tear on the main equipment, on the other - the characteristics of bauxite ore have deteriorated. As a result, product quality and production profitability fell. Aluminum output was steadily declining. The plant was in decline, staff turnover increased.
In 1987, BAZ was headed by A.V.Sysoev. The new administration "turned to face the people." A new social policy was developed, and a production culture improved. Professionals began to return to the plant. This quickly bore fruit - productivity increased, production of both metal and alumina increased. Improved financial performance. The backlog made it possible to enter the difficult perestroika period relatively painlessly.
On October 26, 2009, an emergency occurred at BAZ: four roof trusses and 6 roofing slabs collapsed in section No. 2 of alumina production.
New time
After corporatization in 1992, the Theological Aluminum Plant (TIN 6612005052/661201001) took under its wing more than 20 large and small companies in the city and region. Thanks to its versatility, the enterprise has developed quite stably. In total, the company produced about 30 types of products, among them:
- primary aluminum (over 180,000 tons);
- alumina (over 1 million tons);
- alloys;
- metallized powders and powders;
- building materials;
- Consumer goods and others.
Since 2013, aluminum smelting has been suspended, and capacities have been mothballed. At the same time, the enterprise remains one of the main suppliers of alumina for other producers. An important area is powder metallurgy.
In 2016, the second phase of the slurry field was launched. This will allow the next 20 years to continuously produce alumina at the existing production rate. Innovative is the method of mining rare earth materials and aluminum from spent sludge, recently introduced at the enterprise.
Contacts
The address of the Bogoslovsky Aluminum Plant: 624440, Russian Federation, Sverdlovsk Region, the city of Krasnoturinsk, K. Marx Street, 1.
In 2007, BAZ became part of the united Rusal company. Since 2011, the head of the plant is V.V. Kazachkov. More detailed information and contact numbers of the Bogoslovsky Aluminum Plant are listed on the official site of UC Rusal.