KUNTSEVO CHROME LEATHER FACTORY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00047R000100430010-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 24, 2013
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: June 4, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

50X1 '~''i,.1.. /~ n
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release a~ 50-Yr2013/04/24~~ :55 ~~C~~IyyA-RDP82-000478_000100430010-1
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COUNTRY USSR
SUBJECT Kuntsevo Chrome Leather Fl~~;tory
PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE
ACQUIRED
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iNl! DOCUY[NT GqN TA INi INFOPYATI ON APiFCTIMO THE NAtI OV AL OF TEN bE
OF THE UNITED lTA TE 6r fITNIN THE MEAN INO OF TITLE 18r f[CTI0X5 7.3
ANO 7Y~s Oi TX6 U. /. CODE? A! AYE NDC D. ITS TRAM 9YI SSION OR REYF?
CATION OE IT! CON TFN T! t0 DR RECEIPT fY AN UN AU `HOP 12[D PEPlON I!
PRpNI^1 TFD RY LAf. THE PEPR000 CTI DN CF TN I! YORY Ii E40NI f1 }[D.
CLASSIFICATION ~~~~~r/s~:r; rI Tmv TNFC~~
~-
~~,... DiSTRIBUTIpN
DATE DISTR. ~ Tub/ ~2
NO. OF' PAGES
6
N0. OF ENCLS.
1
(LISTED BElOV9!) rA~
2
'pgc~eS
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT N0.
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THib I5 UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
1. The Kur~tseva C~~rorrLe Leather Factory ~I~untsevskiy Bhromovyy
Koz/hcvertriyy Lavad} was suborc3.inate to the Main Administration
of Leather Processing Industry, apart of the Ministry of Light
Industry (T~oscowl, In June 19~t9, the Minister of Light Industry
wa =; Kos gvai n
Frocessint? Industry directed all leather production and
direction of this agency. TY~.e Director (usually referred to
as ?iGlavk") of t~ e Main Administration planned the annual
leather production and assigned production norms (quotas) to
individual leather processing fa.ctoriesm He also was respon-~
Bible for securing rs.w materials for leather factories.. WitY~in
the ministry there was an agency called the Al1~Union Leather
Supply B~rreau, (Soyuzkozhsnab) which was charged with securing
required vuantities oi: raw skins and hides for national consump-
tiono On the basis of production capacities and the :duality of
leather processed by the individual leather factories, all
lar?ge footwear and leather goods factories in the USSR ware
assigned definite leat}~..er processing factories from which they
drew their allotments cf leather[! This plan was prepared each
year by the Nla.in Administration of Leather Processing Industry.
Smsller footwear ar~d leati~~er foods factories, which are not
assigned permanent suppli~+rs, applied for their needs on an
ad hoc basis to the Main Administration, which assigned the
leather processing factory and the amount of leather to be
supplied. Administrative personnel of the leather processing
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SEC,I~Pd`.i/'S~r0~.1~.'~`~:'L ~.t3.FOF~.f~~.~I'1~~I1
factor~.es, ~s~metimes used. their pex~sun;~l cranta~'ts with other indus-
tries CO~f1G~^tGd. vatt~~ the leather proC~;ssing branch, to obtain raw
hides, e~aem,3 cats, arza other ma aerials. Th,e usual procedure however,
was to submit requirements to the Main Administration of Leather
Process~.ng Industry, which through the appropriate agencies within
the ministry, regult3.ted in which wa and b which ente rises such
50X1 orders were to be filled.
2. The Kuntsevo Leather Factory, built between 1915 - 20, was located
in the southwestern part of Nlarifino (four kilometers from the center
of Kuntsevo) on the right bank of the Setun' Diver.. The area~af the
plant, approximately 800 x 600 ni (~8 hectares), and almost in the form
of a rectangle, extended from the southeast to the northwest. The
terrain was flat and barren, although there were rows of trees
50X1 Punted araund the workshops.
3.
u ac wring chrome, kid and patent leather in various colors. The
average daily output of finished leather was approx~.mately 150,000
square decimeters. Eighty to 85~ of the output was chrome leather
and practically all the rest was kid; the patent leather represented
hardly more than one half per cent of the total output. Production
costs per_squa.re decimeter at the fact?ry were as follows:
the Kuntsevo Leather Factory was man-
(a) Chrome leather, black
(b} Kid leather, black.
(c} Kid leather, white
(d) Patent 1.eath::~r, black
shoes with rubber soles, manufactured in any of~the large footwear
factories, had a retail price of 50 rubles.
The main consumers of finished products from the Kuntsevo Leather
Factory (as appointed by the Main Administration of Leather Pro-
cessing Industry}, were as follows: '
(a} Footwear Factory Parizhskaya Kommuna, Moscow.
(b} lst, 2nd, and 3rd Model'naya Footwear Factories, all in Moscow.
_:~:
two rubles
three rubles
five rubles
~:ight rubles
production prices were rather $igh. A pair of working
(a} Footwear Factory Kaprs.nov, Moscow
(d) Leather C+oods Factory (Fabrika Kozhizdeliy}, Moscow. This
factory manufactured women?s handbags, briefcases, wallets, etc.
{e} Footwear ~orksho of the Communist-Party Academy (Yysshey
Partiynoy Shkoly~, Moscow.
(f) Footwear Workshop of the USSR Council of Ministers, Moscow.
(g) Footwear Combinat, Ministry of Armaments, Moscow.
(h) Fo?twear Workshop of the Leather Processing Industry Research
Institute, Moscow. This was an experimental workshop where
the entire manufacture of shoes and boots was fully mechanized.
SECRET~SECURITY INFORMATION
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S~,OE~,Tj SEC~~Tt;~:"~' ?_~i~~~)~?~a~~ .g,3~"~
5.
(~,) iTaric~ixs cooperative and "artel'" .~ootwemr worksha~ps ~~'~ e
1~asterekiye ~destnay Pro~shlennosti) thraughoa~t the cat~tr'y.
fulfill the assigned production quotas said eves to ?~cceed these.
the ~t~ntaavo Leather ~`e,sstory was always .able to
~'he leather prac?~ssing methods used in the Kus~t~evo ~eathesw P'~~tory
ware. rather -c~,~-fashioned and even pri~aitive. The ,equipment dead
ssaaohislery was prewar type and very often needed repair aid replace-
ment.. ~!?ngollar~ goat skins received through. the Sr~yuzho~hss~ab rep-
resented. the main a~aw maters&1 used by the Kuntsev? Leather Fs,etory.
The factory had .the following workshops wYiere l~a'ther was processed:
(a~ Limi>;'1g Shop ( Zoln'~yy ~sekh) . Thin chop was 1,5 x ~5 m large o
rs sags processing of raw dried skins was dame here. There.
were two wooden reservoirs six s~eters in diameter and two,meters
deep, ~ e8,eh with ,capacity for X44 skins) , fi~.led w~.th a liquid
' cozz~pourad whose main ingredients were 11sste and chem~:cale. ~'he
skims were soaked in these reservairs,..from ei,~}~t to tez~ hours,
after which they here removed and put on special sloped tables
where the hair was shaved aff by special knives. The hair was
colleted and-taken to the wool.-drying room which was apart.
of the .liming shop. There it was dried, sorted, packed aMd`
shipped to factories manufacturing felt for vgsll covering,
carpeting, gauantlets, etc. .
(b) Tonne (putrnoy Tsekh). This shop was 15 x ~0 m large.. After
e a r was. removed, the skins were taken to the ta_*>tn.ery 1~hich
was equipped with wooden vats for tanning and. initial dyei>r~g.
There were eight vats, l~ ~n in s~iameter .and 1~ ~n deep. These
vats were equipped inside with w?oden propellers drivea~ b~ a
.centrally located electro-motor. The purpose of these propellers
was to keep the skins constantly moving in 'order to dye. them
event The dyes used at this stage .were dry powdered chemicals;
50X1 they were nat nitro-dyes. The skins remained ixi these
I
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taken to th? drying
va s or our hours and then were removed and
room which was apart of the tannery. Here they were fastened
to special wooden frames holding aluminum plates with many
50X1 three workers in the finishing shgp) usually selected several
holes. On each side o~ the frames were several`-clamps, which
were used to fasten the skins to the frames, Skins were pnt
o? both .sides of each frame -and then left tc~ ~,ry. The drying
r?om has heated with hot air and the drying process usually did
n?t take m?re than an hour. When the skins were dry, they were
taken off.. frames and put on the two stretching (tyar~ul'naya)
machines >wthich were provided with mechanical: clamps. The
machine aperatars held the skin in their hands, and turning it
BrovMd, let, the clamps catch and stretch the skin og those
sections which needed extendin and .straightening.. The skins
then xent to the two glossing ~loshchil'naya) maehir~?s.in the
tannery.. The ~a~.n part Qf this machine- was ~or~osed of t~rb
rollers; .the, doter part was covered with very thin metal wiree
and short bristles in the form of a ea~arse brush.. These
aachines c7.eaned the surface of the skins and. took off all
rough spots. Each skim wept througYi the glossing machine gat
least mace; skins with rough and uneven surfaces ~Wex~t through
two or even .three times. When this stage of processing was
completed, the skins were sorted according to their quality.
After that the chief of the patent leather shop .(one room and
SFCRET,~SEG~Tt?T~'Y IN~'dRl~[.~!?'lON
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used. .for lirs~.n.g (p~.~~,klsdre~x.~aM~s.) leather . 1'he lining bather
underwent trio ~sm~.: procESSing as chrome leather, extce~at for
the dyeizlg. Trio rema,~ining bz1~,Y. off' semiapracesaed skins, all
of which had to be processed ~~y chrome and kid leather, then
was taken to the dyeing shod vah~rh was a part of the tannery.
There were several dozen slvpina~ tables on v~hich the skins were
fastened, and dyed with nitro-=dyes by the means of dyesprayers,
The skins were left to dry ors the tables; the drying presses
did not take mc~:c?r~ than a few rn~.~3utes because the temperature in
the dyeing shop waa rather high. and the d es prepared on.an
50X1 alcohol basis dried very quickly. heard of any Bhemical
by the name of eatechol or pyrocatechol used in the leather
processing industry.
(a~ F~isg shy (ptdolaehriyy Teekh} . This shop was ~#? x 15 m
large. ye and dried skins. wore taken from the tannery to
the finishing shop and individually put under a press, which
waa actually a large ironing machine with a polished ironing
surface 1 x p..75 m. This machine was equipped with two moving
rollers which pulsed the akin under the iron's pressure. Turn-
ing the skin e,round, th~$ procedure was repeated several times,
until the skin was complete. ironed. The skims ends then were
cut off with large scissors (ysimilar to sheep wool-Butting
scissors), Arad the skins were taken to the measuring machine;
there was only ryne such machine in the finishing shop. xt was
composed of two rollers and an electric area computer which
- gave the akin~s suxaface in square decimeters. The normal size
of a finished goat skin procer~~sed in trio Kuntsevo Leather Factory
was lOp-11(J ;square ~~ecimeters. After measuring, the size of each
skits was stamped on its back and the skins then 'f~ere sorted
according to their quality. There were seven different- grades
of finished leather in the Kuntsevo Leather Factory. The
quality of raw sns.4ex~ial, thickness, color, shine, neatness, etc
were all considered at sorting. The better leathsr qualified.
as kid; the Nest wa,s aalle:~ chrome leather. The assorted skins
wore triers packed ~.z~ rolls, usus.lly 20 skins per roll. The
workers usua:l.ly marked the pac~I~ed rolls indicating their
future destination, eg, "Goszak~' (State Order), "Par. Karp"
(Ps.ri.zhskaya Kornmuna) , Packed anc prepared far shipment,
leather was taken then to the stock rooms
(d) Stock Room. The stock room was BO x 10 m. All. 1ea:ther taken
~o tze sock roam from the finishing shop was accompanied by
documents in duplicate. One copy was for the factory accounting
office and .the other far the chief of stock. Ix1 compliance .
with a directive of the Ministry of Light Industry the Kuntsevo
Leather Factory stock roam.Ysad s.n emergency stock of ~5p,OOp
square decimete~?s Uf' the west chrome leathe~^ which' could be
released only upc~ri special c-rders fr?om the minister. This was
lane on many accrxsiaizs and fihe leather was shipped usually to
the footwear factory "Par?J.zYsska.ya Komr~una". The emergency
stoe:.k was replEnished as soon as possible.
(e) Mechanical and Cary enter Shc~~s. These shops were located in
a - Ltic~fng ~p x 14 nl. 1~ac~iirioz?y and wooden equipment were
repaired here and new wooden equipment was manufactured.
Raw Material WarshUUse. `Z'he tiaarehouse vacs located.' in a. build-
ng 100 x 4 m. z c;ontairzec3 trio following stock: dyes,- spare
parts, lime, various cheml.cals, alcohol, ox blood (for softening
SECRET/S:~CURIT~ INFORMATION
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raw skins), a gs (tla~: white was used also for Oft~r:~.ng raw
skins), lard ~~. pro~:essing .not known to ~n~~, ~ari~aus solvents,,
aeids,u spec:~al ciyP in the farm ~;f lame crybtals -held in
mets;~. conts.iner~+ ~~~nd called "Khror~pik , various salts, aastor
oil, etrs. Except far lime, sa~.ts, ?uperphosphates and sodium
sulfide, which were used in liming shop, all other materials
were used in the tannery,
(g) Boiler and Electric Sho The factory had its oven boiler and
efec tics e;.~ops ar eating the factory buildings and for
repairing and maintaining the electric machinery. Electric
current for the factory was received from the municipal power
plant in KuntsevQ.
(h) Laborator Raw skins, processed leather, alcohol and various
diem ea .s used in KuntsevQ Leather Factory were analysed in
this laboratory.
(i) t~ar~a e. There were 12 ZIS 2~ ton trucks used for the factory.
The Ku,ntsevo Leather Factory employed approximately 500 workers,
mostly women and youa~gsters, who worked two eight hour shifts from
0$00 to 1700 and from 1 DO to 0200? there was one hour meal recess
5ox1 for each shift. o German PWs or
forced labor .camp int?ates ever war ed in a factory. The factory
operated six days a week; each-shift worked ~8 hours per week. No
one worked Sundays. Workers were paid twice a month on a piece
work basis. The monthly wage of a worker was approximately 700-
$OO rubles; foremen and qualified workers like. dyers could earn
up to 2000 rubles. The work in the factory, ,however, was very hard,
especially in~the lim~.ng shop where ~:~here w~$ almost no machinery
and srtuch of tlae work h~,d to be done by hand. Living conditions for
workers were poor. The ma~or~ty lived in the factory housing
pro,~eet which was com~aosed of wooden, sum~r-er type barrack houses,
dilapidated and extr~~a~aely crowded. In the housing project there
was a workers~mess,.a club, and a small library with Com~aunist.
li~eratur~i and sc~ie l~usr~ian classics. As in every other factory
in the USSR, there was heavy drinking by the workers after paydays, ,
~3. The factory area was surrounded by a wooden fence two and one half
meters high. There was one watch-tower in the southern c?rner of
the factory grounds. Guard posts were located on .the watch-tower
and at the main gate 2~ hours a day. The factory guard detachment
had approximately 15 men.
9. The factory director was Nikolay NikolayeviCh 3helestin. The Chief
Engineer in charge of technical installations and manufacture of ,~
leather was Khokhlov.
10. F~iffiaulties eineountered in operation of the I~untaevo Leather
Factory were as follows:
(a) A poor quality of dyes was used and often the processed leather
delivered to footwear factories was returned because of its
unstable Dolor.
(b) .There was a shortage of nitro-dyes due to insufficient domestic
production in the USSR.
(e) Insufficient funds~to pay for delivered raw materials and
processing chemicals.
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SECRET/SECUR?I`f'Y I:~iFCF~fi~~~,TTtJN
11. The types of contracts Inandled by the Kuntsevo Leather Facta~ry were
as follows:
(a) gustp 1ori~z Orders f?r fulfilling military requirements,
e consumerwas Cbuvnoy Combinat of .the Ministry of Armaments.
The monthly delivery quota to this combinat, however, never
went ?ver l0o,ooC square decimeters. The best available
quality of rZaek chrome leather was usually delivered.
(b) Sec nd ro~it,~r: Orders for fulfilling requirements of foot
wear ac Dries. The bulk of the Kuntaevo Leather Factory.
production went to this group of consumers,- Footwear Factory
_ Parizhaskaya Kommuna was the largest, consumer.
Third riorit Orders for normal domestic consumption.
~s^'~?p ocon~umers, generally cooperative and "artel."
fgotwe8r'wo~kshaps, was alloted small quantities of law
quality 1?ather. ?
n raa ~w ti.eri~~~,nr~ ~l-n +'ha nvPr-9.1I leather eunP1Y in the T7SSR,
Wi;iG i"Qp^f7Aia~i r.1....v+ .r w?. ~~.~'~'~~ '---cr-
50X1 ~ : c1eAt. This "sufficient supply' however, should be c?nsid,ered
50X1 in the light of -high retail market prices of leather go?ds is the
USSR, and the low purchasing power. of the average Soviet citizen.
50X1 If purchasing-power were increased, there would not be a sufficient
supply of leathex? raw materials in the Soviet Union,~don~t
know whether the USSR imports any hides from abroad.
13.
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some experiments were made with kozein
dyed replacing nitro-dyes. As a result brcutn chrome leather of a
ve nice ermanent color was produced
-end-
SECRET/SECURITY INF4RNdATION
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E~dC.LC~SURE ~A) - S1v;CRET/SE~'UR~'~'~' ~~N~'I~R~'A,~.'~'I~~"
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~~un~x, vvo ChxD~~me Lea.the~ Faotc~ry ~ 55~4~N-3?~~E~
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E~iCLOSURE (A)
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~ECRET~SECUF~~T'~' IWF~ TI~~P~
Le end.
SECRET/SECURITY INFORMATION
Liming Slap
Tannery
Finishing Shop
Stock Room
5? A4echanical and Carper'