Uralmash
A Russian heavy-machinery manufacturer serving mining, metallurgy, drilling, forging, and related industrial sectors.
Last updated August 22, 2026
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Overview
Uralmash is a Russian heavy-machinery manufacturing business based in Yekaterinburg and associated with the engineering corporation OMZ. Its name derives from the Russian abbreviation for Ural Machine-Building Plant; the enterprise has also been known as the Ural Heavy Machinery Plant, or UZTM, and for a period carried the honorary name of Grigoriy Ordzhonikidze. The industrial complex is closely associated with the Uralmash residential district built for plant workers, although the manufacturing business and the surrounding neighborhood are distinct entities. The plant was conceived during the Soviet industrialization drive. Construction began in 1926, while a planned workers’ settlement was established in 1928. Production began in 1933. In its early civilian role, Uralmash supplied large, individually engineered machines for the mining and metallurgical industries of the Urals and Siberia. Its output included blast-furnace and sintering equipment, rolling mills, presses, cranes, and other heavy plant. Before the Second World War, the factory relied substantially on foreign machinery and technical expertise, reflecting the Soviet effort to establish a modern heavy-industrial base rapidly. Uralmash also became an important defense manufacturer. During the Second World War it produced armored hulls, T-34 tanks, and several self-propelled artillery and tank-destroyer variants, including the SU-122, SU-85, and SU-100. This wartime role expanded the plant’s engineering capabilities and manufacturing scale. After the war, extensive state investment supported reconstruction, modernization, and diversification. The company returned strongly to civilian heavy equipment, producing excavators, drilling rigs, crushers, mills, and hydraulic presses. Mining equipment became one of Uralmash’s most recognized areas. The plant produced its first dragline excavator in 1949 and later developed very large walking draglines, including designs with booms approximately 90 to 100 metres long. Such machines were used in open-pit coal mining in Siberia and the Russian Far East. Uralmash also manufactured drilling equipment used in the development of Soviet oil and gas regions, including severe-climate areas in western Siberia. Its deep-drilling technology was associated with boreholes reaching depths of up to 13 kilometres, including equipment used in connection with the Kola Superdeep Borehole project. The business has also designed offshore drilling equipment. The organization was expanded institutionally in 1971, when Uralmash became the head enterprise of an industrial association that included research, casting, forging, structural-metal, drilling, and mine-equipment facilities. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the enterprise was reorganized as an open joint-stock company in December 1992. It joined OMZ in 1996. Gazprom acquired a controlling stake in OMZ and Uralmash in 2005. In 2007, OMZ and Metalloinvest agreed to combine relevant holdings in a manufacturing joint venture, creating a larger machinery group with a reported leading position in the CIS metallurgical-equipment market. Uralmash’s present identity remains that of a capital-goods producer rather than a consumer-facing brand. Its business is centered on engineered equipment and industrial systems for metallurgy, mining, drilling, forging, pressing, and related heavy-industry applications. Available reference material identifies the company as an active OMZ business in Yekaterinburg, but does not provide sufficiently current detail on its standalone ownership structure, workforce, revenue, or complete product catalog.
History
Uralmash originated in the Soviet Union’s drive to create a modern heavy-industrial base in the Urals. Construction of the plant began in 1926, and a planned residential settlement for employees was established nearby in 1928. The factory entered operation in 1933 under the state’s industrialization program. Its initial mission was to supply large machines to the mining and metallurgical industries of the Urals and Siberia. The product range included blast-furnace equipment, sintering machines, rolling mills, presses, cranes, and other machinery, much of it developed to individual customer requirements. The early plant depended in part on imported equipment and foreign technical assistance. The factory’s work expanded into military production before and during the Second World War. It manufactured artillery equipment and, during the war, organized large-scale production of armored hulls, T-34 tanks, and self-propelled guns. The SU-122, SU-85, and SU-100 were among the principal armored vehicles associated with its wartime output. Uralmash also produced SU-76i vehicles using captured German chassis and hulls. This period established the plant as a major Soviet production center capable of combining heavy engineering, armor fabrication, and weapons manufacture. After 1945, the Soviet state invested heavily in rebuilding and enlarging Uralmash. The plant resumed and broadened civilian machinery production, adding shovels, drilling rigs, crushers, and mills. In the 1950s it responded to demand from the aviation and rocket industries by developing large hydraulic presses. Mining equipment subsequently became a major specialization. Uralmash built its first dragline excavator in 1949 and later developed walking draglines with booms of roughly 90 to 100 metres. These machines were deployed in large open-pit mines in Siberia and the Far East, where draglines became important to coal extraction. Drilling technology was another important postwar field. Uralmash rigs supported the development of Soviet oil and gas territories, including western Siberia and other regions with difficult climatic conditions. The company’s deep-drilling equipment was associated with projects reaching depths of up to 13 kilometres, including work connected with the Kola Superdeep Borehole. The enterprise also developed offshore drilling equipment, extending its engineering scope beyond land-based industrial machinery. In 1971, Uralmash became the leading enterprise of an industrial association that incorporated research, metal-construction, casting and forging, assembly, drilling-equipment, and mine-equipment organizations. The arrangement reinforced its role as a production and engineering hub rather than a single-factory operation. During the late Soviet and early post-Soviet periods, the plant was also associated in reporting with the Uralmash organized-crime group; the available reference describes this as a period of at least partial control or influence, but does not provide enough detail here to establish the precise corporate mechanisms. Russian corporate-law reform led to the enterprise’s transformation into an open joint-stock company in December 1992 under the name Ural Heavy Machine Building Plant. In 1996 it became part of OMZ. Gazprom acquired a controlling stake in OMZ and Uralmash in 2005. In February 2007, OMZ and Metalloinvest agreed to create a common manufacturing complex by combining OMZ’s Uralmash holdings with Metalloinvest’s holdings in ORMETO-YuUMZ. The resulting consolidation was presented as a major CIS machinery group and was reported to hold more than 40 percent of the Russian metallurgical-equipment segment at that time. Uralmash later pursued international industrial cooperation. In 2016 it announced a joint venture with India’s SRB International aimed at supplying heavy equipment to the Indian steel and mining industries. Leadership changes followed in the same year, when General Director Oleg Danchenko and Uralmash-Engineering executive Boris Belman resigned. Reference material identifies Sergey Olegovich Sokolov as the company’s general director. The business remains associated with OMZ and continues to be identified with heavy machinery for mining, metallurgy, drilling, forging, and related industrial applications.
- 2016
Indian heavy-equipment joint venture announced
[1]Uralmash and SRB International announced cooperation to produce heavy machinery for India’s steel and mining sectors.
- 2007
OMZ and Metalloinvest announced consolidation
[1]The companies agreed to combine holdings in Uralmash and ORMETO-YuUMZ in a common manufacturing complex.
- 2005
Gazprom acquired control
[1]Gazprom purchased a controlling stake in OMZ and Uralmash.
- 1996
Joined OMZ
[1]Uralmash became part of the OMZ engineering corporation.
- 1992
Converted into an open joint-stock company
[1]The enterprise was reorganized under Russian law as an open joint-stock company named the Ural Heavy Machine Building Plant.
- 1971
Became head enterprise of an industrial association
[1]Uralmash became the leading enterprise in an association covering research, drilling, casting, forging, construction, and mining-equipment facilities.
- 1949
First dragline excavator produced
[1]The plant produced its first dragline excavator, beginning a major mining-equipment specialization.
- 1943
Expanded self-propelled-gun production
[1]Uralmash expanded production of SU-85 and SU-100 vehicles and other T-34-based armored systems.
- 1942
T-34 and SU-122 production began
[1]During the Second World War, the plant began producing T-34 tanks and SU-122 assault guns after initially manufacturing armored hulls.
- 1933
Plant began operations
[1]Uralmash started production under the Soviet government’s industrialization program.
Products and positioning
An engineering-led supplier of large, customized machinery and production equipment for mining, metallurgy, drilling, and other capital-intensive industries.
Metallurgy · 1933
Metallurgical equipment
Uralmash historically supplied large equipment for metallurgical production, including blast-furnace systems, sintering machines, rolling mills, cranes, and related plant. Much of the early output was developed to individual industrial specifications for customers in the Urals and Siberia.
Mining equipment · 1949
Walking dragline excavators
The company produced its first dragline excavator in 1949 and later developed large walking draglines with booms of approximately 90 to 100 metres. These machines were intended for large open-pit operations, especially coal mining in Siberia and the Russian Far East.
Oil, gas, and mining equipment
Drilling rigs
Uralmash drilling rigs supported exploration and development in Soviet oil and gas regions, including western Siberia and severe-climate territories. The company also developed deep-drilling systems associated with boreholes reaching depths of up to 13 kilometres and designed offshore drilling equipment.
Mining and mineral-processing equipment
Crushers and mills
Crushers and mills formed part of Uralmash’s postwar civilian equipment range. They were used in mining and mineral-processing applications alongside excavators, drilling rigs, and other heavy machinery.
Forging and pressing equipment · 1950
Hydraulic presses
In the 1950s, Uralmash developed heavy hydraulic presses in response to demand from the aviation and rocket industries. The product line reflected the plant’s ability to design very large forming equipment for strategic industrial applications.
Military equipment · 1942
Armored vehicles and self-propelled guns
During the Second World War, Uralmash manufactured armored tank hulls, T-34 tanks, SU-122 assault guns, SU-85 and SU-100 tank destroyers, and more than 100 SU-76i vehicles based on captured German chassis and hulls.
Controversies
Reported association with the Uralmash organized-crime group
Reference material states that the plant was controlled, at least in part, by the Uralmash gang during portions of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The available source does not establish the precise extent or mechanisms of that influence.
Brand decisions
2016
Entry into an Indian heavy-equipment joint ventureStrategyBackground
India’s steel and mining industries represented an international market for large industrial machinery.
Action taken
Uralmash and SRB International announced a joint venture focused on heavy equipment for Indian steel and mining customers.
Aftermath
The announcement expanded Uralmash’s stated international industrial-cooperation activities, although the available reference does not document subsequent operating results.
2007
Creation of a common OMZ–Metalloinvest manufacturing complexM&ABackground
OMZ and Metalloinvest sought to consolidate heavy-machinery assets and strengthen their position in metallurgical equipment.
Action taken
OMZ contributed its Uralmash holdings while Metalloinvest contributed its holdings in ORMETO-YuUMZ.
Aftermath
The consolidation created a larger machinery conglomerate reported to hold more than 40 percent of the Russian metallurgical-equipment segment at the time.
1996
Integration into OMZM&ABackground
Uralmash was reorganized within Russia’s emerging private engineering-corporate structure.
Action taken
The enterprise became part of OMZ.
Aftermath
Uralmash continued operating as a heavy-machinery business within the OMZ group.
1992
Corporate conversion under Russian lawStrategyBackground
The post-Soviet legal and economic transition required major state industrial enterprises to adopt new corporate forms.
Action taken
Uralmash was transformed into an open joint-stock company under the name Ural Heavy Machine Building Plant.
Aftermath
The conversion preceded the company’s later integration into OMZ.
Sources2 sources
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