L. I. Brezhnev Southern Machine-Building Plant

The foundations of the future tractor plant were laid in 1944, when it was decided to build the Dnipropetrovsk Automobile Plant. At first it was planned to build GAZ-51 trucks there, but later the ZiS-150 was chosen as the prototype instead, built in slightly modified form as the DAZ-150 from 1949 to 1951. K-31 and K-32 truck cranes and ZiS-585 tippers were also built, a prototype of the DAZ-485 amphibious vehicle was tested, and production of the 4000M forklift was mastered.

By decree of the USSR Council of Ministers of 9 May 1951 it was decided to switch the plant to producing rocket technology. By September of that year the previous products were completely discontinued, and the plant was renamed the Southern Machine-Building Plant. As its main line was now military and space technology, the official name of the company did not mention the city where it was located.

We can speak of the secret enterprise as a tractor plant from December 1953, when it began building the MTZ-2, a general-purpose row-crop tractor of the 1.4 t (14 kN) drawbar class developed at the Minsk Tractor Plant; it was built until 1958. Its 4-cylinder water-cooled diesel engine produced 37 hp. It was then replaced by the MTZ-5, built in two versions: the MTZ-5L (started with a pony engine) and the MTZ-5M (started with an electric starter). From 1961 the MTZ-5LS and MTZ-5MS were built instead, differing from their predecessors mainly in their more powerful engine (50 hp versus 45 hp for the MTZ-5L and MTZ-5M). The MTZ-5LS and MTZ-5MS were built until 1972.

From 1971 the plant built the YuMZ-6, created by the Dnipropetrovsk plant's own designers as a development of the MTZ-5. As the plant remained secret, the tractors continued to be built and marketed under the "Belarus" brand, although apart from some external similarity they had nothing in common with the tractors built by the Minsk plant. The YuMZ-6 was also built in two versions: the YuMZ-6L and YuMZ-6M. The D-65 diesel engine produced 65 hp. From the end of the 1970s the modernised YuMZ-6AL and YuMZ-6AM were built instead; they can be distinguished from their predecessors by their square engine cover.

In 1983 the plant was renamed the L. I. Brezhnev Southern Machine-Building Plant in honour of Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (1906–1982), General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and Chairman of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet.

In the mid-1980s the tractors were modernised again, and the new tractors were designated YuMZ-6KL and YuMZ-6KM, and from the early 1990s YuMZ-6AKL and YuMZ-6AKM. Among other improvements these tractors already have a much more comfortable, so-called aquarium-type cab.

As it is a military plant, the tractors built in Dnipropetrovsk have always stood out for their very good quality. Today the plant is called the "Production Association A. M. Makarov Southern Machine-Building Plant". It is a giant enterprise whose range includes tractors, trams, trolleybuses, food industry equipment, wind turbines, space rockets and spacecraft. See more on the manufacturer's website!