‘Uralvagonzavod Scientific and Production Enterprise did receive the state order for some defense industry products, but it still hasn’t got any civil produce orders. Russian Railways Public Company, for instance, only placed the order for 6,000 gondola cars in 2009, even though the two companies’ original agreement for 2008-2010 provided for the delivery of 40,500 gondola cars. Then, the enterprise has some orders for cisterns, but these cannot be produced due to lack of a new coating production line. In fact, this line won’t even be commissioned this year. To make matters worse, no road construction equipment is being produced at all at the moment. The plant is now working at only 50% of its capacity,’ Sverdlovsk Region’s Deputy Head of Government and Minister for Industry and Science Anatoly Gredin said at a recent administration meeting.

‘This is a unique enterprise; without it, we’ll have no machine-building industry in the region altogether. Uralvagonzavod is capable of solving its problems, but for now, we don’t even know what kind of help it needs. The General Director hasn’t been keeping his promises to the authorities and appears to have no action plan,’ said Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel.

The Governor asked the officials to write special letters to the Russian Federation Minister for Industry and Trade Viktor Khristenko and Uralvagonzavod Scientific and Production Enterprise’s BOD Chairman Denis Manturov to make sure the problem gets investigated in situ.