ZIM / ЗИМ (Maslennikova Watch Factory)

In 1906, the Russian Emperor Nicholas II issued an official decree entitled, “On the construction of military plants at public funds”. The result was the establishment of the Provisional Economic Commission for the construction of the Samara Pipe Factory. The same year, construction began on another plant which would produce aluminium tube and capsule sleeves for three-inch rapid-fire guns. By September, 1911, the factory was completed, and workers celebrated the grand opening of the Second Pipe Factory in Samara, Russia.  

 

The Second Pipe Factory staffed some 2500 workers and was primarily responsible for producing fuses for artillery shells. The factory was so large that a residential village was established nearby. This settlement was aptly named, “Workers”. The plant closed briefly in 1918, then reopened in 1923 under a new name, Maslennikov, named after the first chairman of the Samara City Council, Alexander Maslennikov. (The full factory name, Завод имени Масленникова, is often abbreviated ЗИМ, or ZIM). During World War II, ZIM fulfilled orders from the Ministry of Defence to produce ammunition for the armed forces.

 

After the war, ZIM began production of civilian goods, namely the caliber 2602 watch movement intended for Pobedas. This caliber entered production in 1950 and continued to be produced until the factory eventually shuttered in the early-2000s. With a production spanning over five decades, this made the ZIM caliber 2602 the longest-produced caliber of any Soviet watch movement.

 

Beginning in the 1960s, production at ZIM expanded greatly to included electronic devices, medical equipment, sewing machines, and automobile parts. Specialized subdivisions of ZIM were responsible for building residential houses, schools, kindergartens, dormitories, restaurants, and sports facilities. Given the sheer size of the plant and the enormous number of factory employees, ZIM developed an urban transportation route including tram, bus, and trolley lines.

 

In the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, ZIM was in deep financial crisis. By the late-90s, the plant’s total debt reached about 1 billion rubles. In 2005, the factory declared bankruptcy, and by June 30th, 2006, the factory had shuttered. While a few of the original buildings connected to the plant remain today, the  majority of the factory now stands in ruins.

 ABOUT GLASNOST:

In 1986, Soviet general secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and his advisers adopted glasnost as a political slogan, together with the term perestroika. Alexander Yakovlev, Head of the Propaganda Department of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, is considered to be the intellectual force behind Gorbachev's reform program. 

Glasnost was taken to mean increased openness and transparency in government institutions and activities in the Soviet Union (USSR). Glasnost reflected a commitment of the Gorbachev administration to allowing Soviet citizens to discuss publicly the problems of their system and potential solutions.  Gorbachev encouraged popular scrutiny and criticism of leaders, as well as a certain level of exposure by the mass media. 

Some critics, especially among legal reformers and dissidents, regarded the Soviet authorities' new slogans as vague and limited alternatives to more basic liberties. Alexei Simonov, president of the Glasnost Defense Foundation, makes a critical definition of the term in suggesting it was "a tortoise crawling towards Freedom of Speech".