YuTZ (Southern Turbine Plant)
State Enterprise “PO Zorya” + “NPO Mashproekt”

SE SPGTCE "Zorya"-"Mashproekt" 
42 a Oktyabrsky Ave, Nikolaev, 
 54018, Ukraine. 
 Ph.: +38 (0512) 50-25-61, 55-69-99; 
 Fax: +38 (0512) 55-68-68, 22-02-43. 
 Telex: 272113 DISK UX 

Zorya – Mashproekt is the strongest competitor in production of gas turbine drives for gas pumping units and power plants, which are produced by both Ukraine (Sumy Frunze Plant and Motor Sych), and Russia (Kazan Motor Production Association, Saturn, JSC Kuznetsov, JSC Ural Turbine Works and JSC REP Holding). Since 1954 over 3000 marine & industrial gas turbines have been produced and supplied. The enterprise has manufactured and supplied thousands of various gear boxes and multiplying gears. Some 37.5% of the manufactured equipment is intended for gas transmission lines, 35.4% - maritime use, 23% - power generation equipment, and 4.1% - scientific and technical products.

Two state structural units, PO Zorya and NPO Mashproekt, created as a single complex, with clearly demarcated and interrelated obligations (PO Zorya works to develop, test, perfect new gas turbines, and the NPO Mashproekt plant, in turn, masters their serial production), are now developing the concept of joint strategic action. The neighboring ones, which are located behind one fence of the enterprise, at a certain stage lost a commonality of actions, each began to look for ways to survive independently. And only when mutual losses became apparent, did these complementary state-owned enterprises see their prospects in close cooperation, and these actions find support at the state level. In 2001, the NPP Mashproekt and PO Zorya were merged into a single research and production complex of the Zoria gas turbine-building Mashproekt. The main task of the joint venture is to continue to improve the engines of the third and fourth generation and the creation of fifth-generation engines capable of providing the state-owned enterprise NPKG Zorya - Mashproekt with a high level of competitiveness in the global gas turbine engine market.

Zorya, producing light and heat, providing gas mains, power plants, and vessels with driving force, has in fact become the leader of Ukrainian gas turbine construction for a long time. In Nikolaev, besides the alumina plant and shipyards, there is also a unique enterprise - the state Production Association (PO) Zorya. In terms of technical potential, level of knowledge intensity of products and personnel, this company is comparable to such world-famous companies as Siemens, General Motors, MAN, Rolls-Royce, General Electric. It is thanks to the Nikolaev plant that Ukraine is among the top five countries in the world, which are able to independently produce such technologically complex products as gas turbines and equipment for servicing gas lines.

Nikolaev owed much of its shipboard glory to Zorya. The company ranks first in the world in terms of the indicator characterizing fleet saturation with drives of one company. During the Cold War, Nikolaev, like some other settlements, was a closed, high-profile city. And until now it is called by the Nikolayev citizens by the original name of the enterprise - YuTZ (Southern Turbine Plant), was carefully guarded from prying eyes. And although the mystery and secrecy are a thing of the past, the habit of the factory workers not spreading word about their work has largely been preserved.

The uniqueness of the enterprise is determined not only by what it did and does, but also by the ability to restructure on the go. During its history, Zorya has twice been at the very edge of the global development of scientific and technical thought. The first time it fell was to make it through the "untrodden paths" in the 1950-80s, when the development of the aviation gas turbine industry was supplemented with practice, skills, even mistakes accumulated in the shipbuilding industry, giving rise to unique ship turbines.

GP NPKG "Zorya" - "Mashproekt", Nikolaev, Ukraine, is one of the leaders in the world gas turbine industry. The company designs and manufactures gas turbines with a capacity from 2.5 to 60 MW for power plants, gas pumping units and power plants of ships and vessels. The South Turbine Plant "Zorya" was commissioned in May 1954. Created for the production of steam turbines, the company was immediately repurposed for the production of gas turbine equipment. A design office has been created to develop gas turbine engines and installations for ships of the Navy of the Soviet Union.

According to the Soviet Heavy Engineering Minister’s and the the USSR Council of Ministers Directive, in 1949 the South Turbine Plant construction started in Nikolaev. The plant was intended for the steam turbine engines production. The plant was intended for the gas turbine engines experimental and batch production. The main customer was the Soviet Navy. The new branch of industry was created by the best brains of the Soviet Science and technology. Viktor Romanov was at the head of "Mashproekt" over a period of 33 years, determining the development of marine and power gas turbine industry in USSR and Ukraine. His name is linked with a whole era of development and improvement of gas turbine equipment that corresponds to the world standards today.

On 07 May 1954 the South Turbine Plant Zorya was placed in operation. The plant was intended for the gas turbine engines experimental and batch production. A design bureau for gas turbine engines and plants constructing was organized. In 1955 the first of the kind M1 marine turbine engine was issued to the batch production. It was created on the base of an aircraft turboprop engine developed in the design bureau directed by S. Kolosov.

From 1955 to 1964 the first generation turbines M2, D2, D3, M8 were developed and built. They were installed on the anti-submarine and guard ships. An original main gas turbine MZ aggregate was constructed and produced in 1958. It was intended for big anti-submarine warships and equipped with 2x36000 hp RV reducer.

In the period 1965–1969 the 2nd generation highly economical turbines M60, M62, M8K, M8E were developed. Their main features were better acoustic parameters and service life up to 10000 hours. On their base highly economical plants M5, M7, M9, M12, M21 were constructed and transferred to the batch production. The turbine power plants were installed on the sea-going anti-submarine ships, on the landing craft and guard ships. The technical parameters of the gas turbines allowed to enlarge distance of navigation. For hovercraft and air cushion vessels, DT4 and M10 main power plants were developed.

Already in 1955, the company manufactured the first serial M1 engine for a torpedo boat. It was created on the basis of the airplane turboprop engine developed by the design bureau of S.D.Kolosov. In the next 15 years, the company has created 2 generations of gas turbine engines of various power, designed for displacement anti-submarine, amphibious and patrol ships of the Navy. Gas turbine units for hovercraft and hydrofoil were designed and put into production.

In the early 1970s, the company began to produce conversion gas turbine engines for equipping floating cogeneration power plants "Northern Lights" with gas turbine generators GTG-10 (10 MW) mi GTG-12 (12MW) running on diesel fuel and natural gas, gas turbines Mayak trains with GTG-4000 (4 MW) and Fakel with GTG-12 (12 MW). At the same time, the first stationary power plants were created using gas-turbine engines KR-12, GTG-20 (18 MW) and GTG-22 (18.5 MW).

In 1975, the first gas turbine unit M-25 was built with a main gas turbine with heat recovery. At the end of the 70s, the Zorya plant developed and began serially manufacturing gas turbine units GPA-10 with a capacity of 10,000 hp. for gas pumping stations. From 1971 to 1985, engines of the 3rd generation M70, M75, M90 were developed and mass-produced with an efficiency of 30-35% for use in gas-turbine installations of ships of any class and for use in industry. Gas turbine installations M15, M16, M21, M35 were produced. In 1981, production of engines of the 4th generation M80, DN-70 with an efficiency of 36-37% was started. Single-stage engines were created to drive the generators of the blocked circuit GTD2500, GTD110.

The second time it had to pass a "life test" came when military orders dropped sharply and it was necessary, without losing the previous profile, to find a place in the production of peaceful products. Conversion at the factory was a necessity caused by the transition to the market that turned out to be no less successful than the production of ship turbines. The rapid development of the gas industry led to the fact that the plant, using old skills and developing new developments, took up the challenge of gas pumping and power equipment, taking the leading positions in this promising business.

Gas turbines from "Zorya" are the heart of the compressor stations of main gas pipelines that pump the "blue fuel". And in autonomous power plants of various types and capacities, they drive generators that produce light. Taking a leading position in this promising business. The Russian Gazprom is interested in the products produced at Zore, which has a fleet of gas compressor units with a gas turbine drive with a current fleet of 3,100 units (85.3% of the installed capacity of the fleet).

The urgency of the complicated "gas" relations between the two countries was repeatedly reduced by the fact that the products produced at Zore went to Russia to pay off Ukrainian debts. And in Nikolaev itself was unlikely to forget how the “Zorya” warmed the city for many difficult winter, paying “Gazprom” for the gas supplied with its products. And the factory workers then patiently waited for our not very mandatory legal entities and individuals to pay them for such timely services.

It is important to save not the total number of workers, and not to lose the masters, engineers, designers - those specialists who hold onto any business. At Zore, for this purpose, a well-thought-out long-term program of work with people was created, the effectiveness of which is best confirmed by the minimum turnover rate. Suffice it to say that 85% of workers and specialists began their work activities at Zora.

The plant was designed, built and replenished with personnel, as a completely self-sufficient production - to put it in a nautical way, with a large margin of buoyancy. The closed cycle of high-tech production (where the purchased components make up no more than 20%) allows Zorya to remain a monopolist for the production of marine gas turbines throughout the CIS, creating and developing another, no less important area - the production of gas turbine engines for gas mains.

But this feature of the plant is able to give a return only in the case when the team is working stably, and experts and workers approach the matter responsibly. In the context of the use of complex and interrelated technologies, any failure can do much more harm than at an ordinary enterprise. There are many examples where even quite prosperous enterprises, faced with financial difficulties and trying to save money on anything, stop the recruitment of young professionals from universities and technical schools. At Zora, staffing did not stop when, including especially difficult periods, when it was necessary to take loans at high interest rates to pay wages. Young professionals, regardless of the prevailing circumstances, have always been taken to the plant. The basic vocational school continued to "forge" the workforce.

At such a unique plant, everything is interconnected, and unexpected personnel “infusions” from the side, whatever they are caused, are capable of provoking irreversible processes that in the blink of an eye can turn the “pluses” into “minuses” or even cause the degradation of so hard to create. Zorya was managed by only six general directors over the first half-century history of the company. For a long time N.G.Tsyban, and F.E. Yashchenko fruitfully managed by the enterprise. Success accompanied V.A. Kholyavko, who passed all the factory steps - the master, the foreman, the deputy director, the chief engineer.

However, it is worth recalling that for a few years, the company barely managed to find money even for wages. "Zorya" entered the new millennium in excellent financial and economic condition - the company ranked 20th in the country in terms of profit. This made it possible all the time to develop production, and at the present level.

The three areas in which the leader of the Ukrainian gas turbine industry works - the production of engines for autonomous power plants, the creation of gas turbines for pumping gas and the fulfillment of its initial task of equipping ships with gas turbine installations - open up broad prospects for Zorey. Ukraine has every opportunity to develop such a high-tech industry as a gas turbine at the state level.

By 2014 Zorya-Mashproekt planned to invest EUR200 million (USD273.3 million) to upgrade and re-equip its factory as it looks to double production and sales figures within four years. On 10 January 2014, Plant Director Yuri Markovtsev said that the company would make the changes in conjunction with a five-year plan developed as a response to changes in the global market. "Today our production capacity for engines enables us to produce 8-10 pieces per month. We must choose the path of development priorities, determine which designs of turbine technology we develop, produce, and offer the market in the next 10-15 years.

More than 100 compressor plants and about 60 electric power stations of Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Czechia, Canada, Azerbaijan, Iran and other countries are equipped with gas turbine units of "Zorya"-"Mashproekt". Total power of the engines is over 24 million kW with over 26 million fired hours of operation. The State Enterprise "Scientific and Production Complex Gas Turbine "Zorya Mashproekt" which is part of the State Concern "Ukroboronprom", exported 97% of its production in 2013. In 2013 the biggest customers of the company were Russia, the Middle East, China and India.

Twenty-nine percent of all turbine-powered ships worldwide are equipped with gas turbine units developed and built at Zorya-Mashproekt. More than 500 ships of 20 countries are equipped with gas turbine units of "Zorya"-"Mashproekt". In 2003 Mashproekt supplied ship gas turbines for the naval forces of India, Greece, Russia and a number of other countries. The units supplied before to the ships of the Navy of India, China and USA have been also successfully tested. Since 1954 for marine application the company has produced marine gas turbines with rated power 3, 6, 10, 16 and 25 MW as well as gearboxes and completed COGAG, COGAS and CODOG propulsion plants for all kind of ships, hovercraft and hydrofoils.

Within more than half a century period the enterprise produced and transferred to the customers about 30 models of the main and accelerative gas turbine engines for the naval and merchant vessels. They are installed on board more than 29 percent of the world sea-going ships. The total engines power produced by the enterprise constitutes 33 percent of all the sea-going ship engines summarized power.

The high level of developments and production of marine and industrial gas turbine plants, which is confirmed by the certification of the quality control system in compliance with ISO 9001-2000 standard, enables the enterprise "Zorya"-"Mashproekt" to compete at the world market of gas turbines. In February 2014 during the second surveillance audit conducted by auditor team of FE "SGS Ukraine", Gas Turbine Research and Production Complex "Zorya"-"Mashproekt" proved compliance with international standard ISO 9001:2008 in the following field of activity: Designing, development, production, mounting and repair of gas turbine engines and units for ships and vessels, gas transportation systems and power industry.

Thanks to the geopolitical limbo that Ukraine has been in for decades, China was able to bypass the West's arms embargo since 1989 and Russia's strategic confinement, and buy from Ukraine crucial weaponry and technologies that have been converted into the crown jewels of China's modern national defense. The Chinese navy's most advanced Aegis destroyer is propelled by DN/80 gas turbine engines that China imported from Ukraine's industrial giant Zorya-Mashproekt in 1990.

Representatives of the State Concern “Ukroboronprom” and Chinese Navy signed off in April 2013 that the air-cushioned landing craft (Project 958) had been performed and completed. The ship was built at the Feodosia Shipbuilding Co JSC “Morye” that is a part of the State Concern “Ukroboronprom” for Chinese Navy needs. The State Enterprise “Zorya”-“Mashproekt” completed the air-cushioned landing crafts (Project 958) with power plants. Under the terms of the contract the enterprise would deliver the equipment for four such ships. The air-cushioned landing craft (Project 958) is the world’s largest hovercraft. It is designed to sealift landing assault units (such as marines or tanks) from equipped/non-equipped vessels to non-equipped shore, as well as transport and plant mines.

By early 2013 Severnaya Verf (Northern Shipyard, Russia) was carrying out the mooring trials of Admiral Gorshkov frigate (project 22350). All ships manufactured within the frame of 22350 project have been equipped with Zorya-Mashproekt’s installations. Mooring trails include tests on quality of units mounting and inspection of their operation. After mooring trails Admiral Gorshkov would undergo the sea trails.

The South Korean Navy operates the Murena type air cushion landing craft equipped with propulsive systems produced by Zorya-Mashproekt. The same system was presented at Naval and Defence 2013. There was the Project 958 air cushion landing ship at the exhibition. Two such ships were built in Ukraine for Chinese Navy.

Yuriy Ilyin, Vice-Admiral, the commander-in-chief of Ukrainian Navy and Aleksandr Batalin, the chief of shipbuilding and marine engineering division (SC “Ukroboronprom”) visited Zorya-Mashproekt 12 December 2013. Problems on maintenance of marine propulsion units, spare parts support and the “Ukrainian corvette” project progress were discussed in the course of the work meeting. The guests visited the production work-shops. The commander-in-chief expressed thanks to Mykolaiv shipbuilders for product quality. Five ships of Ukrainian Navy were equipped with units produced by SE Zorya-Mashproekt. One of them is a flagman - “Hetman Sahaydachniy” frigate.

In January 2014 the State Enterprise Zorya-Mashproekt delivered the gas turbine engines for missile boats "Molniya" to the Republic of India. The equipment was supplied under the contract of 2013. According to the contract the first batch of four engines was shipped. Four other units of the equipment will be delivered in the second quarter of 2014. The engines are intended for re-equipment of the missile boats which are in operational service with the Naval Forces of the Republic of India. The new equipment will replace the used engines.