National hero

In the inglorious days of the USSR, Ukraine was second only to Russia in population size. In 1958, the Central Committee of the USSR decided to transfer heavy duty – essentially military – truck production from the YaAZ diesel engine and vehicle manufacturing plant in Yaroslavl, Russia, to a factory in Kremenchug in Ukraine. Until that point, no trucks were built in Ukraine.

The factory complex that became today’s AutoKrAZ – KrAZ stands for Kremenchug Motor Vehicle Plant – had previously built steel bridge structures and combine harvesters. Often described as ‘the breadbasket of Europe’, Ukraine has long been one of the world’s top three wheat and grain exporters.

KrAZ was established in 1945 following an edict issued by the USSR’s People’s Commissariat for Transportation Routes. Constriction of the plant in its original form was completed in 1946. During the eight years that followed, it delivered around 600 steel girder kits for box bridges for river crossings in many parts of the Soviet empire.

Combine harvester manufacture commenced in 1956. During the course of the two years up to the switch to truck production, the plant delivered an impressive 11,000 items of agricultural machinery.

Truck manufacture at Kremenchug got off to a good start. The factory took over the YaAZ-219, -221 and -222 range of 6x4s and a derivative, the 6x6 YaAZ-214. With development beginning in 1951, the -214 became