Pskov Experimental Engineering Plant

In 1968 the Pskov Engineering Plant (from 1972 the Pskov experimental engineering plant) was ordered by the USSR Ministry of Land Improvement and Water Management to create its own bus to transport machine operators and land improvement workers. Initially 50 were wanted; the first prototypes, then designated P-1AG, were built on the GAZ-51 in four months, by the end of 1968. A few of the plant's engineers worked on it under chief engineer Serbin. The ministry liked the bus and then ordered production to start at 500 a year.

As the rushed development left the PAG-1 (the name given to the bus for series production; ПАГ = Псковский Автобус ГАЗ, Pskov GAZ Bus) with many fundamental faults, it was decided to develop a new bus, but a batch of PAG-1s was still built (330 in 1968 and 69). A few were also built on the GAZ-52 chassis. In January 1970 the PAG-2 went into production, initially based on the GAZ-52 and with a new body shape. Later PAG-2 bodies were also fitted to the GAZ-53A; between January 1970 and March 1972 a total of 279 buses were built on the GAZ-52 and 575 on the GAZ-53A. In 1972 the PAG-2 body was lengthened, creating the PAG-2M (increasing the number of seats from 24 to 26).

The PAG-2M (and its developments 2MN and 2MP) stayed in production without major changes until 1989, with a total of some twenty thousand built. At the end of the 1980s the PAG-3 and PAG-4 prototypes were built to replace the outdated PAG-2M, but they never went into production.

Today the Pskov plant is called OAO Pskovavto and builds minibuses on UAZ and GAZelle chassis and "vakhtovkas" (crew transport vans) on UAZ and GAZ trucks.

See more in the online edition of the Russian magazine "Gruzovik press"!