The Road to the Steel Jubilee
31.01.2019
Bogatyr Loading and Transportation Department of Bogatyr Coal LLP had the big way of formation. The 40 years of the glorious history of the enterprise have family names of professionals, who can be called God fathers of railroad "arterias" of Ekibastuz coal basin. They are Georgiy Stepanovich Gridin, Stanislav Pavlovich Kurzhey, Ivan Petrovich Fedotov, Nikolay Mirtofanovich Belik, Ivan Petrovich Opanasenko, Vasiliy Frolovich Gavryushin, Gennady Semenovich Polshchikov, Vladimir Semenovich Litvinenko, Aleksey Sergeyevich Gutorov, and also the people, who were trusted to manage Bogatyr Loading and Transportation Department currently and in the past.
Tested for strength
For the first manager of Bogatyr Loading and Transportation Department (BPTU) - Mikhail Bogomyakov - all 44 years of his work at the coal mining enterprise have been remarkable. However one of them left a special track in his memory.
Mikhail Petrovich has gone a long way from a person on duty at the station of PTU of Irtyshugol trust organized in April of 1957 up to General Director of Razrez Severny LLP. He became the witness and participant of the commissioning of Bogatyr coal mine; the development of the railroad transportation system of the enterprise was going on, which at that time was increasing volumes of coal and overburden transportation at a fast pace.
In 1973 the track machine station was organized in the composition of PTU. A bit later on the basis of the surface railroad transport of Bogatyr coal mine the technical unit called PTU was formed, and on the 1-st of February of 1979 Bogatyr Loading and Transportation Department was founded on its basis by order of General Director of Ekibastuzugol Production Association Stanislav Kurzhey. After the further reorganization of the railroad transport Ekibastuz Loading and Transportation Department and Vostochny Loading and Transportation Department were formed.
As if forestalling the big events the serious technical reequipping of rolling stock was going on. Electric traction replaced steam locomotive traction; dump cars appeared. Substations, control offices, thousands of kilometers of overhead systems and power lines were built. All that had to be done without stoppages of operations - as people say "under the wheels", training and retraining personnel to work on new machinery, introduction of new technology of repairs, reequipping existing depots, building and commissioning new ones...
- The real test for strength and hardiness for the employees of Bogatyr coal mine and BPTU was the year of 1985, - Mikhail Petrovich says, - For the year 56,8 mm tons of coal was loaded and transported. The loading made 155,6 ths.tons of coal per day, what equals 2,350 rail cars or 34-35 short trains. That is every hour 1,5 short trains left Bogatyrskaya station. On that year the fourth locomotive crew of OPE-1 #254 hauled the one billionth ton of coal mined from the beginning of Ekibastuz coal basin exploitation...
The first Nauryz - from miners-railroad people
Leonid Yeresko, head of BPTU for 1989-1999, remembers the period of work when the development of the subsidiary husbandry started at the time when Vyacheslav Kalandarishvili was General Director of the association.
- By the forces of the department collective the huge subsidiary husbandry was built. We had 500 horses and up to 2,000 pigs. We were bringing horses, grain, and green forage from the Altay region. For holidays and birthdays of our employees we were giving them meat for two or three people: a horse or pig. Meat was also brought to a shop and sold at production sections. At Sarykol lake, which is located in the area of the airport, fish - crucian carps - was stocked and the recreation zone for employees was arranged. Our employees went there to have rest between their shifts. Transportation was also arranged for account of the company...
When Tusupkhan Kasymzhanov was Deputy General Director for Economics the miners-railroad people conducted the first Nauryz in Ekibastuz. For this I created the committee on preparation to the holiday, which contained notable Kazakhs knowing their customs. For the first time near the building of the town administration the yurts were installed. Before that I have never been to the yurt. The organizers went to Maykain to oralmans to get yurts and their decoration. I remember how long we were learning how to assemble them. For me, the Ukranian, the best lard was the real besbarmak with kazy, shuzhuk, karta with greenery and sorpa...
In the largest subdivision
Vladimir Kolesnikov was the head of BPTU from 1999 through to 2005. For this time the enlargement of the enterprise took place - the merging of Bogatyr Loading and Transportation Department and Vostochny Loading and Transportation Department. Later on railroad subdivisions of Bogatyr coal mine and Severny Loading and Transportation Department joined it.
- This was the largest production subdivision of the company with over 2,6 thousand people in it, - Vladimir Vitaliyevich remembers, - It united about forty production sections. That was an interesting time. The new collective was formed; new organizational structure of BPTU management was developed; reconstruction of railroad stations and modernization of OPE-1 traction units were carried out. It was interesting to work, and the time was going fast...
With humor and traditions
- In the collective I was called a "joyful director", - Artur Khachaturyan, head of BPTU from 2005 through to 2010 says smiling, - This was because I came into office on the 1-st of April, International Day of Laughter.
Actually the today General Director of Railways Systems KZ LLP Artur Vagidovich is just a very positive and open person, who had to head many serious projects at the coal mining enterprise.
- Put-1 section, the head of which I was in the 1990-ies, was located in Bogatyr odd access track. 70% of coal production volumes fell on it. Machinery was developed in the vehement pace. Beside that in winter both employees and executive staff clerks, except for women, were busy with snow control. At that time snowstorms were not like currently.
We worked together, we had rest together. In BPTU there was such a custom - average railroad people went to rest outside the city limits on days-off together with their management.
One more tradition, which was born long time ago but still exists in the department was the celebration of Railroad Man Day and the conduct of contests amongst rolling stock operations and their assistants. I remember when in 2003-2004 they started to put a glass of water on a hitch assembly and many operators could not but dropped it. One of them made a joke that "if there were something different from water he would not have dropped it". And we decided to check it - we changed the content. And actually none of the competitors dropped a glass...
I am glad the railroad people from Bogatyr Coal LLP continue their work on beautification of industrial sites taking care of lawns and other plants. This can also be called a unique tradition. The project on planting trees and bushes at BPTU started when I was the department head when new investors came to the enterprise...
The right course and improvement
The production and professional way of the head of BPTU from 2010 through to 2017 Aleksandr Grigoriyev was determined by Head of Stepnaya station depot of Bogatyr coal mine Lev Mikhailovich Prokopiyev. Aleksandr Mikhailovich was employed there as a rolling stock repairman in 1975 after the service in the Soviet Army. Since that time he met a lot of professional railroad men, who became his faithful tutors and assistants in work. They were Vladimir Semenovich Litvinenko, Gennadiy Nikolayevich Ashikhmin, Anatoliy Semenovich Kozulin, Mikhail Ivanovich Moskvin, Aleksey Sergeyevich Gutorov, Gennadiy Nikolayevich Ugarkin, Yerken Zhunusovich Rakhmangulov, Igor Petrovich Zhuravlev, Aleksandr Nikolayevich Golod, Ivan Petrovich Susedkin, Nikolay Demiyanovich Kastritskiy, Vasiliy Mikhailovich Igumnov, Gennadiy Grigoriyevich Zaitsev, and many others. A newspaper page would not be enough to count everybody, - Aleksandr Mikhailovich notes. He speaks with a special respect about those who headed and heads BPTU:
- Bogomyakov Mikhail Petrovich and Yeresko Leonid Sergeyevich set a right course and priorities, placed a good foundation for further development of the enterprise.
Working on strengthening and improvement of everything achieved by previous managers fell to the lot of the managers Vladimir Vitaliyevich Kolesnikov and Artur Vagidovich Khachaturyan and me.
Currently the enterprise is managed by the new generation. Agybay Kazkenovich Pokatayev is the head of Bogatyr PTU beginning from July of 2017. Agybay Kazkenovich passed a good production school beginning from a rail track repairman and passed all the stages of carrier growth. The subdivisions, the head of which he has been, were always exemplary. Azat Bakytzhanovich Kabdrashitov - Chief Engineer, ambitious, energetic, wearing creative ideas, and promising. I can certainly say the enterprise is in reliable hands…
Iron gold
Currently Bogatyr Loading and Transportation Department is equipped very well from the technical standpoint introducing digital technologies and international experience. With the purpose of improvement of production processes modern and efficient ways of production process management are applied successfully from 2012, such as RUSAL Production System and Lean Six Sigma. From November of 2014 Bogatyr Coal LLP patented its own trademark BPS (Bogatyr Production System). Bogatyr PTU is an active participant of these programs.
However, the main force providing the stable development of BPTU, as Department head Agybay Pokatayev says, are people, their professionalism, services, achievements, and victories.
- We call our collective iron gold, in which almost two thousand people work. Over 1,200 of them have been awarded with various awards and ranks. Five of our railroad people are Honorable Miners, thirty four - Honorable Employees of Coal Industry, two - Honorable Machine Operators of Coal Industry, ninety four - cavaliers of Miner's Glory award.
The special place is BPTU is taken by labor dynasties: the Kopnovs, the Novikovs, the Sultanovs, the Tursunbayevs, the Mynbayevs, the Rozhoks, the Konovalovs, and others. Our employees achieve success not only in the labor activity. Among our railroad men there are famous sportsmen. Their family names are known not only in Bogatyr Coal LLP but also in the republic and even at the international arena. They are a football player, world champion, master of sport Murat Akhmetsharipov, lifter, master of sport in arm-wrestling Aleksey Sazonov, inspirer and coach of Bogatyr football team of veterans Aleksandr Petrov, chess-player Sergey Orekhov, leader of a tourist team Yury Vorobyov, veteran of sport, irreplaceable participant of competitions in different kinds of sport Yelena Napadovskaya, and many others.
We have musicians and singers - Nurmakhan Baibeshov, Ruslan Musin, Azamat Ozdoyev, artists and masters - Yury Lysenko, Anar Shaibekov, Kaiyrgeldy Dairbayev, and also fishermen, who become winners and prize-holders of the Bogatyr winter fishing annually.
Following a glorious tradition BPTU develops mentoring, continues patronage work in schools, Professional Technical School # 18, participates in town charitable events, in celebration of Nauryz meiramy, New Year, and honors its veterans.
The success of Bogatyr Loading and Transportation Department is a service of its all employees. Today I congratulate each of them on the jubilee of the department and wish strong health, family happiness and new labor achievements!
Conversation with Marina PONKRATOVA
Photo from the archives of the department and conversation participants.
