THE PROGRESUL METALLURGICAL WORKS, BRAILA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80T00246A054600290001-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2010
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: June 24, 1960
• Content Type: REPORT

western edge of Braila' in the Brailita Quarter, ad3acent to the Braila
railroad classification yard. The street address is Strada Noua No. 9~,
and the streetcar line marked "Progresul" runs to the plant. f,,.~ S/~
~w~~ ~'T
2. The approximate],y 1~, 000 employees of UMQ are classified as follows
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
This material contains information sIIecting the National Defense of the United States within the meaning of the lepionase Lave, Title
18, U.B.Q. Secs. 793 and 794, the transmleaion or revelation of which in say manner to an unauthorised person id prohibited by law.
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converted into a producing factory under the Rumanian Ministry of Heavy. " `' t^~'~
Industry. U1~ is located within a 1,500 by 750-meter area on the north= ~'~
SUBJECT The Progresul Metallurgical Works, DATE DISTR. 2~ June 1960
Braila
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REFERENCES
INFO.
PLACE b
a. 2,500 employees working in three shifts dai]~y.
I20 are youths between the ages of 25 and 30 who received their degrees
after the war under the Soviet systems specialising in a single, very
limited field. Many are department heads.
b. 170 engineers. About 20 of these are "old type" engineers and abou_
100 draftsmen and technical "white-collar" workers who work 10 to 12
hours per day.
300 technicians for production controls and tests who work in three
shifts dai.l~r.
e. 1,000 administrative personnel, warehousemen, hanc~een and general
serPice personnel.
f. 320 to 350 apprentices.
There are no technical personnel from the USSR or other bloc countries ~:-
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eTATE: ARMY NAVY ~ AIR
(Not.: Washington distribution indicated by "X"; Field distribution by "#".)
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REPORT
5
RD
1. The Progresul Metallurgical Works (Uzinele Metalvrgice Progresul - UMt')';~'~
is the former Franco-Rumanian Railroad .Equipment Company, founded in 1921. m S
Prior to World War II, UMP was merely a locomotive repair shop emplo
about 1,200 workers.. Following the war, it was enlarged, remodeled a~ndg ~ '1 ~6
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employed in Ulm.
3. Production ~ UI~
a. Motorized road rollers -produced under Soviet license; total weight,
10 tons; engine, 35 h.p. diesel (HD 35) produced by the Steagul die
plant in Orasul Stalin (UR0.S); in3ection pump made by I.C. Frimu'plant
in Sinia; production (begun in 1952), 35 per mo~htl}; factory markings
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bronze plate with the inscription "UMP".
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b. Sm talinets excavators -produced under Soviet license but 'it is
a excavator copied by the Soviets. Bucket
capacity, 0.3 cubic meters; gD-35 engine from UR03; penumatic tires
produced by Baal?c plant in Baicoi; productiont 15 per month; factory
marking: plate with "5.0.3"; pro'tptype completed in the spring of
1959 and exhibited at. the Bucharest Fair.
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c. Me ~ !~ -produced under Soviet license but a copy
o machine; bucket capacity, 0.5 cubic
meters; ~-3> engine; produced in 1950-1958 at a rate of five per
month; factory marking: "E.0.5t? (bucket capacity).
d. Assembled freight car axles -European gauge (1,135-mm); production
65 assembled au].es per 2!~ hours; wheels supplied mostly by Resita
steel mill; axle weight w/o wheels, l,50 kilograms; with wheels about
2,000 kilograms.
e. Containers - Al.l. kinds for gas, fuel and liquids. Recently two
hundred 20000-liter wine tanks were built for cZamestie use, enameled
inside with "9inylin~~; Spherical tanks, !~ meters in diameter, are now
being built for the new synthetic fiber plant at Chiscani (Braila},
Tanks for tankcars are not built at U~', but in a plant in Orasul
Stalin.
f. Bridge cranes and overhead cranes -for various uses. No self
propelled cranes or metal highway or railroad bridge parts are made
at U1~.
g. Metal towers -for electric power lines and other uses. In 1956-1957,
200 towers, 18 meters high, of tubular construction were built and then
erected on the Yugoslav border for use as observatories.
h. 100-mm steel bawls -for cement mills for use in the horizontal cY
lindens; production rated 1,000 per 2Z~ hours.
i. Gears for reduction boxes -for power from one to 1000 h.p. of the
types "A", "B", and "C" ("C" is the largest and has three wheels);
dimensions up to 2,200_mm_in diameter and 660 mm in thickness; pro-
duction rate: 30 per month for "C", and 200 to 300 for "A" and "B" of
various dimensions.
J?
Forging dies - of various types.
k. Bottom: dies -about 1,000 bottom dies for the gears of the truclt
transmissions for the CQlibasi branch of 3teagul Rosiu truck factory
in Orasul Stalin. Bottom dies are also made for the Banloc fire plant.
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1. Toothed driving wheels for tanks -This item has been in production
since I951~-1955; diameter, 500 to 600 mm; thicl~ess, 120 to 150 ten;
sic lightening holes; production rate: ~.0 to 50 per month.
m. Tank cover plates - In 195?, 600 circular plates to cover circular holes
at unidentified places on tanks; nickel-chrome steel; shave of a circu-
lar cover (ma~rimutll diameter, I,jO mm; mi ni ?~,m diameter, 110 mm; thick-
ness, 30 mm).
n. Oxygen tanks - 200 tanks, of 6 cubic meters, dai],y,beginr,ing in 1958
when this division became active.
o. Steel - 1t0 tons per 2!~ hours.
p. Other products -Forged parts up to 1~0 tons on orders from various es-
tablishments throughout Rumania; machine tocl,s (stamping machines,
presses, etc.) on order. for example, in 19556, a sawdust press Was
acquired dismantled, copied, and 3 or !t duplicate
presses ma 50X1-HUM
Production usually follows the rate established bar the Collaboration Plan.
There is a "Special Office" responsible for the tank driving wheels. This
office also keeps the plans and documents and handles shipping. The plans
of the tank wheels are listed a "discs". The head of this
office is a man probably a 3ecuritate officer.
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!t. The precentages of defective products are as follows:
a. Steel foundry - 35 to 50 percent
b. Castiron - 12 to 1,5 percent
c. Castings - 5 to 10 percent
d. Forgings - 10 to 13 percent
e. Machine shop - 5 to 8 percent
5. War production -During World War II the following were made at UN~~
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a. Mortar =~'B~~Brand and ammunition: 2,000 mortar
shells per 2t~ hours an one comp a mortar for every 30,000 shells.
b. 100,000 metal antitank mines. The machinery for antitank mines was
dismantled at the end of 191~Ia. and taken to the USSR.
gt the present time, UMP is equipped to handle all processing and working
of iron, steel and metals and can produce complete tank- and artillery
pro3ectiles.
6.. Naval production atr'Ul~'
a. River tugs - In 1916-197, work was completed on 9 tugs begun by the
Germans in 19 suspended because the Schultzer engines
had not come The Soviets had the engines brought in
and upon comp a on. were transferred by water to the USSR for
use on the Don and Volga Rivers. Description: Length, 17 meters;
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beams l~.2 meters; molded depth, 1.20 meters; drafty 30 to 50 cm;
propulsion, one 5-cylinder Sehaltzer engine of 160 h.p. and with a
Kort nozzle on the screw gives 225 h.p.
b. Engines -Built three engines for the four minesweepers of the
Rumanian Navy constricted by the Viitorul Shipyard. The engines were
copied from an original German engine.
c. Armed river motor boats - 200 were produced from 19l~6 to 1950 for the
Rumanian Frontier Guard.
d. Motor boats - 50 were produced in 19.6-1947 for Navy harbor serPice.
7. Destination of the products made by UA?' -The principal prodnets are all
exported to the USSR Bloc countries or to countries under Communist
influence. Shipments are made to the following countriess
a. Nbtorized road rollers -Since 1917
was a shipment) lit the price of X6,000 each.
in 1957 there
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c. Freight car axles - 'East Germany, Hungary Czechoslovakia and the
USSR (~.iropean gauge sent to the USSR).
d. Containers -China, North Korea, North Vietr~aig. some are kept for
domestic use.
e. Powerline towers -China, North Koreas and North Vietnams.
f. 100 mm steel balls for cement mills - In 1959, North Vietnam placed
and order for 600000 balls. The technological process for their
manufacture was also granted to North Vietnam..
g. Gears for reduction boxes - l~uaania~ Chinas USSR; isi 1958-1959,
type "C" (diameters 2,200 mm; thickness 600 nmi) to China and the
USSR._ _
h. Dies -for domestic use.
i. Tank driving wheels - Uncertan, but::pmobably to the USSR; Rumania
has not plant for building tanks.
3. O~grgen tanks -for domestic use.
k. Other products -domestic use.
8. Sources of the raw material and manufactured items used by U~ are:
a. Special nickel and chrome blocks - Hunedoara and Resit steel
b. Blooms for forging - Hunedoara steel mill (up to I~00 by 100 mm and
6 to 8 meters long).
c. Plate -Over !~ mm thickness, Resits steel mill; over !~ mm thic~mess~
Nicolas Cristea metallurgical plant in Galata.
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d. gD-35 engines for rollers and excavators - UI~OS, Orasul Stalin.
e. Injection pumps for BD-35 engines - I.C. Frimu., Sinaia.
f. Pneumatic tires for excavators - Banloc plant, Baicoi.
8. Planning - Usual]tiy, the plans are drawn up by the USSR or IPI~JI~T of
Bucharest. The research and planning office of Ulm makes the plans
on]~r for secondary products and for factory installations such as dies,
bridge and overhead cranes, devices for forges, etc.
.9. Future Plans - At present the 0.3 cubic meter excavators (small ~~~:
Stalinets) are the main goal of UI~ and improvements on them are in
progress. The manager and ten technicians from the
factory were at UI~ in September 1959 to check the equipment and to
agree to let U1+~' produce, starting in 1960, forged parts crankshafts,
and connecting rods) for the diesel engines for diesel-electric loco-
motives to be built_by the 23 August Works in Bucharest.
10. Power Supply -Electricity is received by UMF from its own power plant,
from the Braila network, and from the Galati thermoelectric power plant
by separate conduit. The Braila current is AC 220-V, triphase, 50
cycle. The electricity reaches the plant at the transformer station.
The plant pdw+st~ station has two semistable Ganz steam engines generating
500 kw/h each. Almost all furnaces are heated with fuel oil.
11. Water Supply -Water for industrial uses comes from a well which has
been dug for this purpose. Drinking water comes from the city supply.
The pumping station to supply drinking water for the plant is located
in front of the Armenian Cemetery.
12. Transportation Facilities -There are railroad lines from UMP to the
nearby Braila classification yards. About 20 UROS 3.,5-ton trucks are
also available for use.
],3. Expansion Plans -The plant stadium will be transferred to a ~-hectare
area adjacent to the north side of the plant and the area now occupied
by the stadium will be used for putting up sections which have not yet
been defined. The project is to be completed in 1960.
].Ii.. Security -The plant is completely surrounded by a 2-meter wall made of
concrete columns and prefabricated concrete panels measuring 2 by 2
meters. Concrete lookout towers for guards are located around the wall.
Security is carried out by plant guards who also have dogs.
15. Firefighting Equipment -The plant has its own firefighting equipment.
The chief mechanic is responsible for this function and his shop
maintains and repairs the equipment. He is also responsible for Qac!nri itr
measures against accidents at work and fires. 50X1-H U M
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