Nevsky Plant

From the middle of the 19th century, a small iron foundry of the Englishman Thomson, producing artillery shells and cast iron, opened on the site of the Binard silk factory. In 1857, Major General Pyotr Fedorovich Semyannikov and Lieutenant Colonel Vasily Apollonovich Poletika acquired the enterprise - mining engineers, fellow practitioners at the Mining Institute ^{[2] [3]} .

The Crimean War of 1853-1856 makes the inevitable transition from a sailing wooden fleet to a steam armored one. Semyannikov and Poletika were among the first to receive an order from the naval department for the construction of ships.

In 1858 two small steamers Maria and Worker were launched.

Began large-scale restructuring. The workshops were reconstructed, new workshops appeared ^[3] . A shipyard was built on the bank of the Neva, the plant was equipped with new equipment. New production buildings were built, including the red-brick building of the rolling workshop. There were rolling-mechanical and model shops, slipways for ships, built by arch. R. R. Heinrichsen. In 1863-1864 they built armored tower boats "Lava" and "Perun". In 1864, the company received the name "Nevsky Foundry and Mechanical Plant Semyannikov and Poletika" (in the literature, the everyday Semyannikovsky Plant is often used).

In 1865, the first Kremlin- built coastal defense battleship, built in Russia, descended from the stocks ^[3] .

In 1868, the Semyannikovsky Plant received an order for the construction of a steam locomotive. The factory launched its first steam locomotive in 1869. In 1870, at the All-Russian Industrial Exhibition in the Salt Town, he was awarded the Small Coat of Arms of the Russian Empire.

In 1870, the plant moved to the "Russian Society of Mechanical and Mining Plants . " The territory of the plant is increasing. New workshops appear, and a connecting route with the Nikolaev railway is being built. In 1882, the 1000th steam locomotive was launched.

In 1890, the plant was purchased by the Moscow Association of the Nevsky Plant and in 1899 it passed into the possession of the partnership of the Nevsky Shipbuilding and Mechanical Plants. On the territory, two covered metal boathouses were built, in which two large vessels could be built at once ^[2] .

The development of the enterprise left a mark on the unfortunate location of the plant. The former Shlisselburg Highway (now Obukhovskoy Defense Avenue ) divided the plant’s territory into two parts. The stocks were located on the banks of the Neva on one side of the highway, and production workshops and warehouses on the other. The Neva bridges, which at that time allowed passage of ships of small and medium displacement in movable openings, did not allow the construction of ships with a displacement of more than 8,000 tons. This determined the specialization of the plant - the construction of auxiliary vessels, destroyers, light cruisers (for the latter, another large slipway was erected for two stocks).

Before the Russian-Japanese war, the plant handed over to the fleet of the second-class cruisers Pearl and Emerald , a significant number of small destroyers such as the Cyclone and Sokol (including the legendary destroyer Steregushchy ).

During the industrial crisis of 1904-1908, the plant experienced difficult days. During these years, the shipbuilding department of the plant brought about 2 million rubles in losses. The value of the shares of the plant continuously decreased. To save the company from financial collapse, the State Bank began to buy shares of the Nevsky Plant. By 1910, the company turned from private to state. The number of workers in 1913 was about 3 thousand people.

Until 1917, the plant produced more than 4 thousand locomotives and 174 vessels of various purposes ^[3] .

In 1918, the Nevsky Plant was nationalized and changed its profile to a power plant.

In the 1930s, during the industrialization of the country, the Nevsky Plant became the manufacturer of Russia's first centrifugal turbomachine to supply air to the blast furnace. New complex machines are being mastered at a high rate - compressors, blowers, exhausters, turbines, steam boilers.

In Soviet times, many creative personalities worked at Nevsky Zavod. For example, the poet Victor Sosnora .

The company produces gas and steam turbines, centrifugal and axial compressors and blowers, gas and steam turbine generators, electric drive blowers, integrated air cleaning devices, etc. ^[1]

In 2007, it was announced that the plant plans to modernize its production: to reconstruct part of the premises and change the metalworking equipment. The leasing scheme of work will be used for this: “Petersburg Leasing Company” transfers the machines for processing large-size casting and other types of metal working for a total amount of more than 700 million rubles. ^[4] . The term of transactions is 66 months. CNC metalworking equipment from Czech manufacturers Tos Varnsdorf and Toshulin will be acquired ^[5] . As part of the modernization in 2008, the Demolition Association demolished the metallurgical shop, fuel and lubricants warehouse, several garages, residential and administrative buildings ^[6] . The empty site to the right of the main plant building is now visible.

• The official site of the Nevsky Plant (old address nzl.ru)