NLMK Group

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operated by a plant. It helped achieve
technological breakthroughs in a
number of sectors for the Soviet
economy, making it possible to
produce audio recording equipment
and television sets.
With the beginning of the Great
Patriotic War two thousand plant
workers joined the armed forces.
Production of grain-oriented and
non-grain oriented steel had to
be stopped temporarily, because
the country badly needed other
products. In a very short period of
time VIZ started manufacturing
more than a hundred different
special grades of steel required
for the war effort. In the winter
of 1941 it produced the required
amount of special steels for tank
armor, aircraft, machine guns,
and telephone sets. In addition,
every day the plant would produce
250 artillery shells, 2 thousand
mines, more than a thousand
grenades. The mechanical shop
was manufacturing components
for the famous Katyusha multiple
rocket launchers, while the sheet
mill shop was processing silver for
manufacturing medals and war
decorations. Several crews adopted
the slogan of “working just as hard
as the army is fighting the Nazis”
and were called “front-line crews”.
In 1942 the Verkh-Isset Plant was
awarded the Order of the Red
Banner of Labor for its exemplary
Steam-powered
machinery in the openhearth
shop
in the XIX th century
Entrance to VIZ.
1930