Moscow fat factory

The plant was designed at the end of the 1930s as a producer of food-grade salomas - hydrogenated fat , raw materials for margarine factories, first of all - the Moscow margarine factory , built in 1930. In 1932, the People's Commissar for Supply Anastas Mikoyan was present at the laying of the foundation of the plant. ^[1] Commissioning took place on June 30, 1935, the initial production capacity was 50 tons of fat per day ^[2] , the number of employees was 306 people ^[3] .

In 1938, for the first time in the USSR, the plant mastered the production of a margarine emulsifier ^[4] . In 1940, a gas workshop was built, thanks to which the daily output was brought to the level of 150-160 tons of salomas ^[5] .

In August 1941, due to the start of the war, a significant part of the plant’s equipment was transferred to other enterprises, the production capacity dropped to 50 tons of fat per day ^[6] . In connection with the restriction of the resource base of traditional oilseeds during the war years, the plant mastered the technology of processing hardly hydratable unrefined cotton oil ^[7] . For airships and aerostats used for the defense of Moscow , cylinders with hydrogen were produced at the plant ^[8] .

In 1945-1946, the main workshops of the plant were reconstructed - regeneration, catalyst, autoclave, gas. The average daily production in 1946 amounted to 34 tons of salomas, in 1949 - about 130 tons, and by 1950 the plant reached the pre-war capacity ^[9] .

In 1965, the plant was renamed the Moscow Fat Plant, and the product range was gradually expanded: the production of stearin for emulsion cosmetic creams was mastered, the production of confectionery fat was launched, and the bottling line of vegetable oil in glass bottles was launched ^[10] . In 1967–1968, the refining plant was modernized: a line for continuous deodorization of fats was purchased in Sweden, and a separation plant was launched ^[8] .

In 1971, a decision was made to master the production of vegetable oil in polymer containers ^[11] , and in 1974 the largest complex of six lines of filling sunflower oil into PVC bottles was put into operation in the USSR at that time, which packaged 20,000 tons of products annually ^{[ 12]} . However, the capacities were not fully loaded: for example, in 1975, 8.2 thousand tons of oil were packaged, by 1980 the output reached 15.9 thousand tons, in 1990 production surpassed the parameters laid down in 1974, reaching 22 thousand tons ^[13] .

In 1976, it was decided to concentrate all Moscow mayonnaise production at the plant, as a result, mayonnaise production was transferred from the margarine factory ^[14] to the plant, and a small production site in Shelepikhe was added (where the first Soviet mayonnaise was released in 1936 ) ^{[8 ]} ; as a result, the capacity of the mayonnaise plant was 28.5 thousand tons per year ^[15] . In the same year, the flotation shop was commissioned and the boiler house was reconstructed ^[16] .

In 1978, a complex of margarine production with a capacity of 40 thousand tons of products per year was built at the plant ^[17] ; in 1982, the first USSR line of bulk margarines with a capacity of 18.5 thousand tons of finished products per year was commissioned in the complex ^[18] . In 1984, the company built several new lines with alkali-free processes for the refining of oils and fats, thanks to which production volumes were increased by 45.5% ^[19] , and in the same year production of mayonnaise in plastic packaging was set up ^[20] .

The highest production volumes in Soviet times were achieved by the combine in 1990; in 1991, there was a decrease in all main types of products: margarine produced by 4.4% less than the previous period (56.5 thousand tons in 1991 against 59.1 thousand tons in 1990), mayonnaise - less by 27% ( 28.4 thousand tons against 38.8 thousand tons), and fat oil - by 10.5% less (79.1 thousand tons against 88.4 thousand tons) ^[21] . Depreciation of the main equipment, purchased mostly for imports in the late 1960s - early 1970s, was 70% - 90% by 1991, some equipment was decommissioned and some areas were transferred to manual labor ^[22] . The number of employees in 1991 was 1,325 people ^[23] .

In 1993, under the privatization program, the enterprise was incorporated , 76% of the shares were distributed among the workforce ^[24] , 24% were transferred to the Russian Federal Property Fund .

In the first years of independence, the company purchased spare parts for worn-out equipment for $ 4 million without borrowing funds, and also acquired new production machines, including the American Roberts filling machine for the margarine complex, two German machines for filling mayonnaise into polymer bags, a German machine for cutting plastics for bottling sunflower oil ^[25] . By 1993, the output of margarine compared to 1991 surpassed almost six times, mayonnaise - by 8% - 10% ^[26] . In 1993–1995, products began to be produced under the Stolichny Provencal (mayonnaise) and Rossiyanka (margarine and sunflower oil) trademarks. ^[27] . By 1998, annual production volumes reached the levels of 50 thousand tons of margarine, 35 thousand tons of mayonnaise and 15 thousand tons of sunflower oil per year ^[28] .

The director of the plant in the 1990s, Melkon Aznauryan , was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland , 4th degree in 1996, for his work at this post ^[29] .

By the beginning of the 2000s, the struggle for the shares of the enterprise had intensified. Aznauryan owned about 25% of the shares ^[30] ; management of the plant resisted buying-up of shares by third-party organizations from the workforce, in particular, it was reported about the dismissal of workers who sold the shares, it was believed, in favor of the concern Kalina ^[24] , who tried to carry out a hostile takeover of the enterprise ^[31] .

After Aznaurian’s sudden death in December 2002, his widow’s share was bought by Saratov’s financial and industrial group “Bouquet” by Vladislav Burov , who owned Saratov and Novosibirsk fat-processing plants at the time (Butet’s oil and fat assets were later allocated to Sun Products ) ; and along with 15% of the shares acquired in 2001, “Bouquet” by 2003 concentrated in its hands a 40% share ^[30] . In March 2003, Aton redeemed a 20% stake from the management of the company in favor of the group of former managers of Alfa-Eco (the investment structure of the Alfa group), headed by Mikhail Bezelyansky, by April 2003, the group consolidated 24% of shares. to appoint Vladimir Khazanov, his representative, as executive director ^[32] . Another major shareholder as of 2003 is the Nizhny Novgorod Oil and Fat Plant (10%), and another 24% of the plant were still in the RFBR ^[33] .

In 2003, a shareholder conflict broke out between the group supported by Bezelyansky’s group and Buket, several extraordinary shareholders ’meetings were held, the legitimacy of which in all cases was challenged by one of the parties, the company experienced several assaults due to the non-admission of Buketa’s management to the plant, the court challenged the acquisition of shares from Aznaurian’s widow, and negotiations on the creation of a joint company to manage various Russian oil and fat assets were unsuccessful ^[34] . The state package of 24% at the height of the conflict in 2003 was transferred to the Government of Moscow ^[35] . In 2004, a compromise was reached between the shareholders and the appointment of the representative of Buket as the temporary director of the plant, but the conflict was finally resolved only in 2005, when Bouquet bought all 24% of the shares from the Alfa-Eco group. ; The amount of the transaction was not disclosed and estimated by experts at approximately $ 3 million, which corresponds to a level of $ 12.5 million for the entire plant, such a low price was due to the fact that during the conflict the company almost stopped its activities and the debt load reached $ 20 million ^[37] .

In 2009, the owners merged legal entities managing the Saratov and Moscow fat-processing plants ^[38] (the legal entity managing both enterprises is the Open Joint-Stock Company “Fat Factory” registered in Saratov).

According to the results of 1999, the plant was included in the Expert-400 rating, in which it took the 156th place among Russian companies in terms of sales of products with a value of 822 million rubles, the net profit for 1999 was 8 million rubles. ^[39] In 2003, the company's turnover amounted to $ 48 million, the debt for 2005 reached $ 20 million, by 2007 the owners planned to bring the plant to the level of revenue of $ 130 million ^[37] .

As of 2013, the owners of the production site in Moscow have been reported as unprofitable due to the high costs of maintaining an enterprise in the capital ^[40] .

In October 2013, the Moscow City Planning and Land Commission approved by the Bouquet group a draft plan in the area of ​​Grayvoronsky Passages, providing for the closure of the plant and the construction of a population of up to 3.5 thousand people with a hotel, school and kindergarten on the released 23 hectares; total investment in redevelopment is estimated at 20 billion rubles. ^[41] It was reported about plans to build a new production site for “Solar Products” in Lytkarino instead of a plant in Grayvoronovo. ^[38] In September 2014, the draft layout of the future residential quarter was sent for recycling at the expense of the investor to improve technical and economic indicators, in particular, to bring the total built-up area to 457 thousand m², of which 340 thousand m² was living space ^[42] .

As of 2017, on the official website of Solar Products, an enterprise in Grayvoronsky Proezd is still indicated as a platform in Moscow, besides, the main sales organization of the company, Trade House Solar Products, is located at the same address in Grayvoronovo ^[43] .

The main trademark of the plant’s products as of 2010s is Moskovsky Provensal, under which six varieties of mayonnaise are produced with fat content ranging from 30% to 67% in a variety of packaging from 100 ml to 10 liters; The cost of the trademark was estimated at $ 3 million in 2012 - for such an amount, Alfa-Bank provided a loan to the owners of the enterprise on its security ^[44] . Two years later, one of the structures controlled by Alpha groups, the X5 retail chain, challenged in the Chamber for Patent Disputes the legality of the protection status of this trademark, arguing that the brand does not have distinctiveness, and other companies may well produce Moscow Provence oil and fat industry ^[45] . According to 2007 data, products under the Moskovsky Provensal brand ranked 4th in the Moscow mayonnaise market, yielding 6% Skit Provencal brand from Skit Moscow and less than one percent to Efco and Calve Corporation brands Unilever (Russian production of which is carried out at the Moscow Margarine Factory) ^[46] . “Solar products” tried to secretly advertise the brand in one of the Russian television series (“ product placement ”), however, TV production did not go on the air, and therefore the plant’s owners demanded a reimbursement of expenses in the amount of 770 thousand rubles. ^[47]

Packed margarine is produced under the Russian brand, and in the 1980s-2000s, sunflower oil was poured at the plant under this brand (in 2010, the owners transferred the production of Rossiyanka sunflower oil to Atkarsky oil extraction plant ). Under the brand "Stolichnaya mustard" produced two types of mustard in tubes and glass jars.

• Арам Пирузян. Московский жировой комбинат // Жизнь страны — судьба моя. — М. : Наука , 1995. — С. 254—260. — 509 с.
• Арам Пирузян. Пищевая индустрия: годы, люди. — М. : Наука, 1999. — С. 66—69. - 304 s. — ISBN 5-02-010847-2 .
• 40 лет масложировой и парфюмерной промышленности СССР. — М. : Пищепромиздат, 1958. — 245 с.

• solpro.ru/about/companies/mzk/ — официальный сайт компании «Солнечные продукты», страница Московского масложирового комбината