YURI Y. RESHETNIKOV: «WE ARE NOT THE ONLY ONES, BUT WE ARE THE FIRST!»
Yuri. Y. ReshetnikovThere is a well-known Chinese saying: «A journey of a thousand steps starts with one». We asked Yuri Reshetnikov, the General Director of Perm Motors Group Managing Company, who was in charge of Aviadvigatel OJSC at that time, to tell us how the first step in gas turbine industrial engine-building was taken by Perm engine-builders.
The economic crisis of 1991 became both a serious test for Perm engines and a main cause of aviation engines going industrial. The Engine Design Bureau (now Aviadvigatel OJSC), which was only financed by the state, faced the following challenge: stay in severe dependence from the state and reconcile itself with the slow decay of the company, or quickly find its own way of survival.
But that meant to try and master new lines of business, including design and manufacture of products uncustomary to our manufacturing profile, during a period of dire strait and administrative break-down.
Formerly, it was not done of principle: the company was loaded with aviation projects, and there was no need to go «earth-bound». Furthermore, Perm engine builders were the only ones of all engine-building companies of this country not participating in Gazprom projects. There was, however, one short period of time when the Soviet Union was having problems after the Afghan war, and it was required to urgently establish manufacture of engines for gas transfer in Kazan City. But we only took part in cooperation then, we had no significant experience in the matter.
There were a lot of proposals regarding our future endeavors. Having objectively studied all the options and having taken into account the prospects of gas turbine engine market, we came to the conclusion that the optimum solution would be to find a «terrestrial» use for the aviation engines.
An apparent advantage of this idea was that development of industrial gas turbines maintained the company profile and main activity. It also made the companies of the most stable and wealthy sector - fuel and energy industry - our partners and customers.
In search of a worthy application of the aviation technology we offered our products firstly to Gazprom, OJSC, the major Russian gas group. I note, however, that not everybody in Gazprom believed that Aviadvigatel could fulfill the commitments undertaken. Right from the start we faced fierce competition. I will let you be the judge: similar equipment had been developed and produced for several decades on many engine factories: in Kazan, Samara, Nikolayev, while we spent all our life «in the clouds»... Nevertheless, in one year, as promised, the first unit for Gazprom and with the help of Gazprom was assembled and installed right away as part of a functioning gas pipeline on Permskaya gas compressor station. Hence, we managed to prove our competence to our partners and potential customers right from the start. It is no coincidence that today Perm engine builders, of all others, are in the lead of the largest 2.5...25 MW gas turbine manufacturers over the whole post-Soviet territory.
GTU-12P gas turbine in PMZ assembly shopIt should be noted that our aggressive development of the industrial engines market happened due to the cooperation between a variety of leading production enterprises of Perm Region. Thus, Aviadvigatel became a developer, and PMZ - a serial manufacturer of gas turbines. Motovilikhinskye Zavody took up manufacture of shaft blanks, HK Privod, OJSC produced turbine generators, NPO Iskra designed and manufactured gas compressor plants of the new generation, etc. On the whole, for the past 15 years the very powerful industrial cooperation complex producing gas turbines and power plants has been formed in Prikamye.
Recorded by VICTOR OSIPOV
