More than 25 years ago, a powerful world power — the USSR — collapsed, and many factories continue to function in the territory of the post-Soviet space. Unfortunately, not all organizations of the former Union of Socialist Republics were destined to “stay afloat” . The unfortunate fate befell the Pavlodar Tractor Plant, which was once one of the largest engineering centers.
PTZ was founded in 1966 as an enterprise focused on the production of special tools and technological equipment, and two years later it became an independent plant specializing in the production of the most massive diesel tractors. What happened to him?
The beginning of the way
In the mid-60s of the last century, virgin lands of the Kazakh steppes were actively developed. The government understood that serious success in this direction can be achieved only by using modern (at that time) technology. Therefore, a plant was created on the territory of the city of Pavlodar. The main task that the Pavlodar Tractor Plant had to cope with was the production of DT-75 tracked vehicles.
At that time, the release of the DT-75 was the exclusive privilege of the Volgograd Tractor Plant. The decision to create a new base was dictated by the need to provide virgin lands with a large number of powerful and cheap equipment. Therefore, starting in 1967, transmission parts for DT-75 tractors were produced in the shops of the plant, and by 1968, own production was launched on the territory of the enterprise. Moreover, the cars produced here were referred to as DT-75M Kazakhstan.
Rise and fall
As soon as the Pavlodar Tractor Plant fully mastered the production of new agricultural machines, the production of all DT-75 tractors completely "fell on the shoulders" of the enterprise. This model existed without any particular changes until the 80s of the XX century. The tractor was recognizable thanks to the characteristic color - the blue body and white roof. On the side of the hood you could read the inscription "Kazakhstan". But unfortunately, now only large-scale models of this tractor can be found.
The heyday of the enterprise reached its peak in 1984, when more than 55 thousand pieces of equipment were produced. Subsequently, the engineers of the plant created several modifications of the tractor - DT-75ML, DT-90P (for work in the industrial sector) and DT-75T (for agricultural purposes). After that, the Pavlodar Tractor Plant began to lose ground.
By 1997, output amounted to less than 2 thousand units of equipment per year. The main reason for the decline in production was the collapse of the Soviet Union and the formation of a market economy. As a result, in 1998, unable to withstand tougher competition conditions, the plant acknowledged its bankruptcy.
Further fate
The new management of the enterprise - Piston JSC from Almaty - at first wanted to resume the production of DT-75 tractors. The Pavlodar Tractor Plant was supposed to become the center for the development of agricultural machinery of Kazakhstan, enter into cooperation with the Minsk Automobile Plant and establish production of modern agricultural machinery.
But all the grandiose plans collapsed overnight when the leadership changed again. This was partly due to the unprofitability of production facilities. At the moment, the capacity of the enterprise has been transferred to private companies. The most successful of them were Casting LLP (steel products) and KSP Steel LLP (production of pipe rolling products). That's how the tractors of the Pavlodar Tractor Plant (some are still in operation) survived the workshops where they themselves were created.