The company’s history

Three Plants. Three Centuries. Three Russias

During 170 years Russian Coatings worked its way up from a production establishment of lead whites belonging to the 3rd guild merchant Andrey Fyodorov, son of Vakhrameev, to the leader of Soviet paint industry - the plant Pobeda Rabochikh called now Russian Coatings JSC-op.

Factory development began in the Russian empire. It has endured the revolution situations of the early XX century, breaking-up the political system in 1917, World War I, Civil and Great Patriotic Wars. The formation of social economy in the USSR gave our plant the second birth, and to the beginning of 1970-s it became the leader of the domestic paint industry. On the eve of millennium the plant endured desintegration of the USSR but managed to meet the XXI century transformed, having practically gone through the third birth.

Traditions of cooperation with world leaders in the paint industry have been laid as long ago as in the end of XIX century. A little bit less – 80 years- is a history of collaboration with giants of the automotove industry which began with building the Gorkiy Automobile Plant in the USSR...

Such pressing problem of social responsibility of the Russian businessmen had been raised as long ago as 150 years. Partially the problems in the city and country as a whole were solved at the cost of private resources of large merchants and manufacturers. In opposition to Soviet mythes the archives documents and contemporaries reminiscences show that the state authorities in the Russian empire were rather actively dealing with formation of a labour law and controlling the occupational conditions at private enterprises. As regards to providing the social conditions for its workers the Vakhrameev's Heirs was in a line of advanced Russian enterprises of that period, and its owners were also engaged in a charitable activity.

The new, working-class power took the management of the plant in its own hands only in the second half of 1918, after a bloody “white guard revolt” broken out in Yaroslavl in July. This was the period when the enterprise of Vakhrameev had to change its name three times a year now and then: Paint Plant No 2, Pobeda Truda, Krasnyi Rabochiy... At last in honour of the 5th anniversary of the Great October Revolution and according to the State Directive of October 30, 1922, the factory has got its new name “Pobeda Rabochikh”. A month later this name was accepted by voting at the general meeting of the factory workers and employees and remained the same during next 75 years.

As for the socialistic reorganizations of 1920-1930 we should mention a great enthusiasm of workers. The enterprise had its own record-setters in work productivity. However it was not enough to have only revolutionary pathos and ideological propaganda. The plant became profitable only after formation of labour economical stimulation system. The first in the country a paint technical college was opened at the factory. Just that very time the principles of the first national authoritative trade mark of paint materials were laid; the mark belonged to Yaroslavl paint producers who had mastered a manufacture of nitrocellulose varnishes and enamels and started supplying their products to Gorkiy automobile plant.

In 1930-s many employees were victims of political repression — directors and ordinary workers, convinced communists and indifferent to politics citizens. Moreover, up to now undervalued in full measure was the work of those who had been forging the victory during the Great Patriotic War in the home front. Weakened by starvation and hard work old people, women and teenagers not only worked 12 hours a day, without vacations and days off, not only digged trenches and watched bombing on the house roofs. According to the Party and Trade Union directives they also had to take part in sport events, pass the tests on GTO, perfom the duties of sanitary patrol members and of nurses, work on equipping the town with services and utilities, participate in agricultural work and so on. So in our common victory there is also a contribution of hundreds of employees from Pobeda Rabochikh.

It is difficult to tell which period of the enterprise history was easier than others. Each one had its own complications whether the period of post-war restoration in the late 1940-s — early 1950-s or economics reforming during 1960-s when the plant became the major supplier of VAZ and leader of the national paint industry. Not easy were also those fifteen years (1973-1989) when the plant was functioning being a member of the Yaroslavl Industrial Association LACOKRASKA.

There is still no unanimous opinion about the events of transition period in Russia in the late XX century. The previous political system was destroying, the national business was developing. However Pobeda Rabochikh changing the forms of ownership and cooperating with foreign partners has managed to withstand. In the time of so called «criminal capitalism» the company management and employees found an optimal decision: from 1998 the interbranch center SPECTR became a new owner of the enterprise. At the meeting of company shareholders the founder and owner of SPECTR, Yakov Yakushev managed to receive the moral support of the collective.

SPECTR began to fulfil a modern conception of national company succeeding in the market-oriented economy. The first domestic paint brands Yaroslavskie Kraski and Vika appeared in 1999, then Premia, Brite and some others. The plant was re-equipped with new machinery. Scientific researches, manufacture and sales of automotive, refinish as well as of decorative and powder paint materials began to develop as independent business trends.

By 2008 the total sales volume of Russian Coatings made up more than 3 bill. roubles. The highest dynamics is shown by the car refinish and industrial business trends, that is hi-tech and novel paint materials. They include over 150 product marks, nearly 500 shades. There are more than 1500 people working in the company. When summing up the annual ratings of Yaroslavl region enterprises on quality, Russian Coatings traditionally takes 1-2 places. The company products were repeatedly marked by prestigious industry prizes both in the field of development and of quality of new products.

Russian Coatings is activelly dealing with charity through the Charitable Fund Spectr helping the indigents, children, invalids, sportsmen and public organizations participating in many cultural and educative programs.

The company cooperates with many foreign firms. As a strategic partner Russian Coatings chose the world largest company DuPont and founded the scientific and production alliance. In the early of 2006 a joint venture Dupont Russian Coatings began working with scientific development, sales and technical support of OEM materials.

Today Russian Coatings deals with two large projects that will be able to provide its future strategic development - creating an independent modern production of car refinish and decorative materials. The enterprise having gone through the difficult period of transit from the socialistic system to the market-oriented economy faces the future with confidence.

1838 – A merchant of the 3rd guild A.F. Vakhrameyev founded a white lead plant.
1906 – A grinding workshop was set up.
1907 – A joint-stock company “Vakhrameyev’s Successors” was established.
1910 – Production of color paints and pigments was started.
1920 - Nationalization of a chemicals plant “Vakhrameyev’s Successors” and its renaming into a State-owned white lead paintwork plant No. 2.
1922 – One of the glorious pages in the plant’s history. The staff of the plant, which remained without experts-emigrants, renewed varnish-manufacturing technology and started varnish production on a technical scale. In commemoration of this event the plant was named “Workers’ Victory” on October 30, 1922.
1923 – A central plant laboratory was established.
1925 – A zinc white workshop was built and set up.
1927 – A new workshop for color paints production was put in operation. Production of milori blue and cinnabar was started.
1928 – Production of nitro lacquers and nitro enamels was pioneered.
1929 – Launch of Veterill furnaces and casein paints workshop.
1931 – Start of automotive coatings production for Gorky Automobile Plant (GAZ) assembly line.
1934 – The first lot of gluceryl-phtalate paint was produced.
1941 – The production was reconstructed to turn out war products.
1945 – A test equipment workshop was established.
1946 – Production of gluceryl-phtalate enamels for midget cars and cars “Moskvitch” was organized.
1947 – Start of pentaphthalic enamels production.
1955 – Lightproof color paints production was organized.
1956 - Synthetic resins workshop was put into operation.
1960 – The first mount for producing tins for minor packing was installed.
1961-1964 – Modernization of the workshops and commissioning of new capacity.
1965-1970 – New synthetic enamels for GAZ and the whole range of paintwork materials for Volzhsky Automobile Plant (VAZ) were developed.
1966 – The plant “Workers’ Victory” was awarded the order of Labor Red Banner for developing innovative products.
1970 – The first line of varnish synthesis workshop was built.
1971 – Production of electrophoretic primers with advanced anticorrosion properties was organized.
1973 – Ten kinds of plant’s products were conferred the state “Quality Certificate”.
In the middle of the 70-s the plant merged with the plant “Svobodnyi Trud” (“Free labor”) thus transforming into Yarolslavl corporation “Lakokraska” (“Varnish and Paint”). And only at the end of the 80-s the plant gained independence and the former name “Workers’ Victory”.
1980 – Modernization of the major plant’s workshops. Harmful productions were liquidated; the plant’s workshops were equipped with imported machinery. Irrevocable packaging workshop was constructed. Manufacturing operation for enamels and primers on the basis of condensation resins went into operation.
1991 – The enterprise went private under the name “Plant “Workers’ Victory” Ltd. Start of cooperation with Investment Industrial Group Spectr.
1995 – Production of new melamine-alkyd enamels ML-1300 and their delivery to assembly lines of domestic automobile plants were organized.
1998 –Start of Investment Industrial Group Spectr’s investment program on fundamental modernization of production process and development of a new marketing system. During its history the enterprise has developed leading-edge technology and achieved success with the help of its employees.
1999 – Production of acrylic paintwork materials was organized. A quality control system consistent with the requirements of the International Quality Management System ISO 9001 and all-Union State Standard R ISO 9001 was developed introduced and certificated at the plant. Yaroslavl Paints Corporation was established. Under the same trademark decorative coatings in minor packaging for car repair and architectural applications were launched.
2000 – For the first time in its history Yaroslavl Paints became “Brand of the year/ EFFIE 2000”.
2001 – The plant “Workers’ Victory” was given a new name “Russian Coatings”. Car refinish materials were being produced under a common trade mark “Vika”.
2002 – Recertification of the Quality Control System in compliance with an updated version of ISO 9001:2000, Ecology Management System was also ISO 14001:1996 certificated. Russian Coatings Corp. received a Government Award for Quality Excellence.
2003 – New manufacturing facilities for producing automotive OEM coatings with metallic and pearl effects were put into commercial operation. Cars refinish products “Vika” became “Brand of the year/ EFFIE 2003”