Uralvagonzavod

UralVagonZavod () is a Russian machine-building company located in Nizhny Tagil, Russia. It is one of the largest scientific and industrial complexes in Russia and the largest main battle tank manufacturer in the world. The name Уралвагонзавод means Ural Railroad Car (wagon) Factory. The plant was built during 1931–1936, mostly during the second Soviet five-year plan. In opened on October 11, 1936, and was named after Felix Dzerzhinsky. Initially it manufactured freight cars. After the German invasion of 1941, Joseph Stalin ordered hundreds of factories in Ukraine and western Russia to be evacuated east. The KhPZ Factory No. 183 in Kharkiv was moved to Nizhny Tagil by rail, and merged with the Dzerzhinsky Works, to form the Stalin Ural Tank Factory No. 183. During the Second World War it became the largest producer of tanks in the world, including the T-34. For its services, Uralvagonzavod received several honorary awards between 1941–1945, including the Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1942), Order of the Red Banner (1943), Order of Lenin (1944), Order of the Patriotic War (1945). After the war, tank production was scaled down. Part of the Vagonka's manufacturing and design assets were transferred back to Kharkiv's Diesel Factory No. 75 during 1945–1951. Uralvagonzavod was expanded to produce other kinds of machinery: agricultural, construction, aviation, and space, including design and production of the Vostok, Voskhod, Proton and Energia expendable rockets. At the Kartsev-Venediktov Design Bureau (OKB-520), the T-54A and T-55 (a development of Morozov's T-54), T-62, T-72, and T-90 tanks were designed. The design bureau was working on a next-generation main battle tank, rumored to be called the T-95, until this project was cancelled in May 2010. It manufactures Russia's newest main battle tank, the T-14 Armata. In July 2014, the Obama administration imposed sanctions, through the US Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) by adding Uralvagonzavod and other entities to the Specially Designated Nationals List (SDN) in retaliation for the ongoing annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by the Russian Federation and the Russian interference in Ukraine.