Kirovohrad Agricultural Machines Plant

Kirovohrad Agricultural Machines Plant (Кіровоградський завод сільськогосподарських машин « Червона зірка»; Kirovohradskyi zavod silskohospodarskykh mashyn Chervona zirka). Established in Yelysavethrad (now Kropyvnytskyi) in 1874 by Thomas and Robert Allworthy as an agricultural-machinery repair shop, it developed by the end of the century into an agricultural-implements plant. It played an important role in the mechanization of agriculture in the steppe region. It was nationalized in 1920, and in the 1930s underwent major reconstruction. A major agricultural machine building plant, in the 1970s it produced all the sugar-beet, corn, and vegetable seed sowers in the USSR as well as 25 percent of the grain sowers. In 2009 the plant remains one of the main producers of sowers among the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States with approximately 45 percent CIS market share.

[This article was updated in 2009.]