YEREVAN RUBBER COMBINE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83-00415R009200030002-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 26
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 29, 2001
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: October 24, 1951
• Content Type: REPORT

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CLASSIFICATION SECR
~T/CONTROL US OF ' ONLY
ICIA
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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORT N
INFORMATION REPORT CD NO.
OUNTRY USSR
(Armenian SSR)
'SUBJECT Yerevan Rubber Combine
PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE OF IP
AgQkkiffiD
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C 41"r'nrI4E0 m
NO. OF PAGES
NO, OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
The attached information on the Yerevan Rubber Combine is being sent to you
for retention in the belief that it may be of interest.
Atahc*er~ts.: A. I'eport on the Yerevan Rubber Combine
ILLEGIB
2.) Layout Sketches of the Yerevan Rubber Combine (29 copies
CLASSIFICATION SLCb.6T/CONTROL US CFFICIALS ONLY
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3.) .of each)
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COUNTR
TOPIC
Soviet Union
REPORT NOS
Carbide -and. Rubber Industry in YEREVAv, (Armenian SSR)
EVALUATION, see below PLACE OBTAINED
DATE OF CONTENT see below
DATE OBTAINED see below _DATE PREPARED
REFERENCES
PAGES ENCLOSURES ( No. & Type)'
(40 0fl, N1 440,70' E)
a.The YEREVA.N/rubber Plant covers an area of about 1 x 0.8 miles. It is
located at thy- southwestern outskirts of the town. Spur tracks lead to the
wide gauge, single-track YEFMVAN1 La.-INAXAN(4p? 48' N/43?58' E)railroad line.
b. In the southwestern corner of the plant are 22 oil tanks each having a
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volumetric capacity of 75 cubitT th&tei'ia.
C. 9'"rubber furnaces were lined in about the center of the plant.
ach furnace was connected with a workshop.
d. According to information of indigenous workmen the plant pro-
duced only crude rubber. It was shutdown at the end of the ob-
servation time b.cause the entire old machinery of the plant was
being replaced by dismantled German material.
e. In normal time the plant is said to employ 1,200 workmen
working in three 8-hour shifts.
The
f. 'she "Polyvinyl -Acetat" Plant is under construction southwest o
the Rubber Plant. It covers an area of 1,600 x 500 feet, In the
southeastern corner of this plant are four partly underground
oil tanks each of about 100 cubic meters volumetric capacity.
"here were 12 workshops ,each about 160 x 16o feet, on the area
of this plant. Hydraulic presses were being set up in these workeho
A total of 250 such presses will allegedly be put into operation.
jhie plant tuskxw has also a spur track to the main railroad line.
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a. The "Kautschuk Zavod"Rubber Plant, o ers an area of about
3,300 x 2,300 feet.1t is located in the south of Y402EVAN in the
suburb of KAUTSCHUK about.1, 600 feet e,ae of the YEI FVAIt NINARP~N-
4 !/,~. ~ral~td liaae.
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About 300 feet northwest of the plant is a cable fe ury"and about
600 feet southwest-is a U XAUXx plexiglass factory.
b. Construction of the rubber apparently started in wartime. No
additional structures were built by the end of the observation time.
Some finishing building work was done only in the carbide departmei
in 1946-1947. liot all workshop buildings are built. in stone. "here
are still a great number of makeshift structures . The locksmith's
shop of the plant,for instance, is housed in one of these structures.
c. Source mentioned ZCCM following installations:
(1) Power station, a tall stone building with 30 foot high k kk
lightning conductors.(This is possibly a transformer station accordi
to the description of source.)
(2) A very large boiler house consisting of iron structures lined
with brickwork.
(3) A workshop building,650 x 65 feet, and 65 feet high with
vehtilation stacks , Part of the carbide needed by the rubber plant
is produced in this workshop.
(4) 6 about 50 foot high conical r aftxktlx= cupola furnaces
("carbide furnaces" acco=tding to designation of source).
(5) A covered dump for coal and coke.
(6) A large reservoir ux in which the ps processed carbide mud
was soaked. f'his product is used for building purposes.
d. Power is supplied to the plant through a long-distance line.
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NOT C UI
Hard coalrcoke- ,salt- and other. not identified shipments come by rail.
e. Synthetic rubber was, produced. *kxmxk There was also a small-scale
tire production.
f, According to Soviet information production was not running sncx on
schedule at the time of observation and it was planned to intensify the
production rate after the end of building ipax work. For this reason a
German acxvn industrial expert came to the plant in 1947.
a. Spur tracks lead from the Y R VAN railroad station to
the synthetic Rubber Plant located 2 miles south of the railroad station,,
~Rubb,i__i'lant
to the Cable XMMM Works located 1,000 feet north of the Synthetic
to the Tire Plant located between the two above-mentioned plants
and to the Bakelite 1actory under construction about 3,300 feet southwes
of the Rubber Plant.
b, 21, u The Rubber Plan was enlarged from 1945 until early i
1948.
c. The plant has four departments which source designated "hydrogenatio
installations." Source only remembers, the ramified "non insulated" pipe
c
system passing through all buildings, The pipe lines were covered with
thick ice layers also in summer and watchlike thermometers -showed
temperatures ranging from lac minus 20 to"30 degrees centigrade.
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d. spongy Xauta yellowish crude rubber was produced in two workshops
which R*ix aaxa_pxvktkt*x were off limits to PW' s .
e. The carbide plant was equipped with 6 electric carbide furnaces
and 6 "electrode-smelting furnaces" for carbide production. In addi-
tion there were 6 lime kilns fired with coke. The carbide tapping
ran-off into high trucks lined with fireclay. The carbide mass was
crushed after cooling and packed into metal drums. INITy
Three carbide furnaces are continuously in operation. According to'
estimate of source the daily output of these furnaces is about
54 tons.
f. The plant has a high boiler house with one smoke stack. The boiler
Rock salt 'in was powderi7ed in buildings about 33P x 65 feet. 'he
salt was then dissolved in water in containers with a diameter of
about 100 feet. The brine was pumped into containers and pipes.
Further processing of the salt is not known to source.
h. Acetylene gas was developed from carbide in
an installation equipped with an unknown number of generators.
The daily carbide consumption of each generator was 36 tons. The
produced gas was conducted theaugh underground pipe lines to four
gasometers each xttkxsxattamwkga 60 to 65 feet in diameter and
33 feet high.
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Mill annother plant was under construction in the vicinity of the
Plant in 1946-1947. It was a plant, where tires for motorcycles,
passenger cars and trucks were produced.
(S'S AN E
00 Fd11r n Tt,. A .........,.,,.~.~.
J. A building about 330 x 330 feet was constructed near the Rubber
Rubber Plant during the time of observation. Thee plant was scheduled
to produce plastics ("bakelite'according to the Russian designation).
k. For layout sketch see Annex 1.
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a. The Rubber Plant is about 2,600 feet south of the outskirts of
Y.E AN. There were seven workshop buildings of various size$.
b. In one workshop kxtittxg, about 500 x 51 160 feet, there were three
machines rising through all three stories of this building. .4 yellow,
plastic mass was produced in this workshop.
c. Almost black rubber plates,20 x 40 inches,40 x 40 inches and
12 x 40 inches with thickness ranging from 30 to 60 mm (4) were
produced in another workshop.
incoming shipments of
d. Source remembers following/raw materials: Zvi[
Lime;
a black, liquid mass coming in wooden tubs;
e yellow, viscous mass coming in iron barrels.
e. 0utgoi:,g shipments: 15 to 20 daily carloads iz} the direction of
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u ?JT !ETACN '^...
TBILISI. .Anount and kind of shipment., are not known.
f. The work force is estimated at 2,500 including about 800 P'i'e. Work
was done in a three shift schedule.
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g. When the plant was enlarged between 1942 and 1947 n"a German mate-
rial was apparently also used. Source observed on one box DELITSCH',as
axxa station of origin.
h. Immediately at the outskirts of YRREV+',N northwest of the Rubber Plant
there was a plant consisting of.six workshop building of variable sizes.
It was a plant for chemical warfare agents according to the designation
of source. Some small-scale building activities were still under way at
the time of observation.
i. at the time of observation another plant was under construction about
5,000 feet south of the plant mentioned in i) and southwest of the
Rubber Plant. Production. of this plant was not known to source. Source
observed the installation of two high presses in one building. The presse
were heavily rusted and allegedly originated from Western Germany. Boxes
with machine Iools, partly of Canadian origin and marked with TORONTO, wer,
i# one storage place.
a. Part of the a?zhber- and Carbide plant at the southwestern outskirts
of TEREVAN was still under construction at the time of observation.
r
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b, In the southern part 'of the plant there were two batteries of six
boiler-shaped oil tanks each. The tanks had a volumetric capacity of
50 tons each and were sunk into the ground.
c. A department equipped with hydraulic presses xjxa&ex already produce
crude rubber though the uk workshop building was not yet completed.
d. The workshop buildings used for carbide production were equipped wit]
modern American machinery.
a. Two daily carloads of finished rubber goods were shipped at the time
of observation.
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f. Two daily carloads of rock salt was unloaded the use of which sourc4
i
a.
VJUM Next to the Rubber Plan in operation states a short time ago
an older plant installation was renovated and converted into a plant
fzxx for. the production of plastics or some similar production. A new
cable works was considered an especially modern plant. It was built fro
It material a completely dismantled German cable works in BERLIN -
SIE' NSSTADT. The cable works was z i= already in operation at the time
of observation and source noted that many heavy underground cables were
produced.
In addition to these plants . installations of the MEISSEN
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le orcelain Factory whic# had been evacuated to YEREVAi were set up as
put into operation already in 1947. JknX The construction was xU41
allegedly copied exactly from the original. Also-the kaolin mate'
rie
processed in YER'BVAN are said to resemble closely ' those used in
!' ISSEN.
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a. Source believes that the YEHEVAN Rubber plant was built during th
war. It was already i4 operation early in 1947. The plant located
at the southern outskirts of TEREVAN covers an area of about 1 x 1 mi
b. Source describes following plant installations:
(~) The very high boiler house has several smoke stacks and is
equipped with three steam boilers(one oil-fired and two coal-fired)
The fuel oil is pumped taltaxtka through injection nozzles into
the Qil-fired x furnace, while the other two furnaces have tezpa}
traveling grates automatically supplied with coal by chutes. The
chutes are fed by means of an inclined conveying machinery.
(2) !there were three high furnaces with smoke stacks walled on top
a one longitudinal building- These furnaces reminded source of
were
(3) There/four furnaces in another building. Tdt" Three furnaces
were in operation at a time. Heating of the furnaces was done by
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cross section
coal electrodes. The furnaces had a x1rax0aza*se of about 3 x 3 ft
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and were 6.5 feet long.(Horizontal position) The furnaces were charged
from the top, 3ntxotatartKtaxaerMaxtXxax}iC where raw materials came in elects
railroad dump cars.
(4) In the adjacent building equipped with lifting appliances and travelin
crabs were grinding mills for crushing the carbide produced in the above-
mentioned furnaces.
There were still some workshop buildings in the plant the use of which
source did not know.
() 4ource dtd not observe a power station. He saw only a high tension
line coming from an urknown directiod into the plant.
C. Following shipments came by rail; hard coal, coke and carbide in drums.
Part of the carbide was apparently submitted to a thermal treatment the uj
of which source does not know.
B.
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a. Power was supplied to the Y!FEVAI Rubber Plant by a special power sta-
tion equipped with two Diesel installations.
b. Following raw materials were unloaded in the plants lime,.wood,coal
and apparently carbide in tin containers. Also an unknown liquid was
unloaded from tank cars and atamtae ekzzxaaat carboys as well as earthenware
Oontainers were unloaded fr m rat11 44 r ii ddddition to other *a
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t
o41]TO
au Iff PET ,
material which source could not identify.
AAA plates
c. loading boxes source observed axmsxaxtak of a dull lustre
about 20 x 8 inches and 20 mm thick. Chips of these plates were
used by workmen for lighting stove fires. They burned with a very
bright flame.
d. We employed in the plant were replaced every month. Recrea-
tional ?eriods alternated with work periods. Increased milk-,fat-
and bread rations were allocated. 1'any workmen wore protective
asbestee clothing during work, Source did not observe any gas mask
The zsgi vegetation around the plant had changed into brown color.
During close weather the waste gases of the plant caused respirator
trouble.
a. Raw material shipments came to the Y$1''VAN Rubber Plant from
AeA, RAT
KIROVAK..AN and from the quarries at 4}re -4rs, gti a=n. Part of
these materials resembles carbide.
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Summary andVComment: [ru NOT DETACH
1. Location and history:
The Rubber Combine and the Carbide Factory are located at the southern
outskirts of the Armenian capital YER'Vk77(fcrmerly ERIVAT). 3MREVAN is
azxkknxiaxg=ktxaaxaxiixmexxvEutxitxsilk located on the 5anga River, not
far from the Araxes Plain and the Turkish national border. FZX37EX W
It is connected with TIBLISI via the ULUKHHANLU Junction by the LENINAKA
KIROVAKAN(40o 48' N/44? 30' E) railroad line or by the newly built SEVA
40?25' N/49?50' E)
KIROVAKAY railroad line. There is also a direct ra l ottd line to BAKU
via ULUKHANLU NAKHICREVAN(39?12' Nf45?24' E)(in Azerbaidzhan) and
M' D?IiULFA.
The enlarged Rubber Combine now partly equipped with new installations
arose from the prewar rubber plant "KIROV,SK.Sovpren No.1". This plan
was for a long time an experiment~-.l installation for the production of
synthetic rubber on the basis of acetnlene produced from calcium carbid
However, normal production had started already before the war. It was t'
only plant of this kind in the Soviet Onion. All other rubber syntheses
in the Soviet Union are based exclusively on kka potato spirit or other
spirit varieties according to the so-called Divinvlproceas of LEBED!EV.
However, this process is not only very ce?st-1~ but also uses important
substances required for the food supply. Therefore, since years the
greatest efforts were made to develop zxktxixzf rubber production
from other basic materials such as carbide, crude oil and natural gas.
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?owever/until the war this problem could not be solved satis-
factorily and it seems that certain progress could only be reached
after vigorous A erican aid had started and dismantled German
material had been installed.
the development of the v?'RES'AN Plant appears to have progressed
but slowly. P