Activity of S. O. Kryvokon as director of Kharkiv Aviation Plant

Abstract

The activity of one of the first directors of Kharkiv Aviation Plant Stepan Opanasovych Kryvokon who held this position during 1927–1930 is considered. In the course of the research, the biography of S. O. Kryvokon and his role in the formation and development of Kharkiv Aviation Plant was clarified in the article. In particular, it was found that S. O. Kryvokon was appointed for the director of KhAZ after completing the evening administrative and economic courses and previously had nothing to do with aviation or aircraft construction. Nevertheless, he quickly managed to be a master in a new field of activity and vigorously set about solving organizational, production, personnel and social problems of the aircraft plant. First of all, this concerned the expansion and strengthening of KhAZ’s production capacity, increasing the number of skilled workers, as well as engineering and technical staff, housing construction, operating with planning and mobilization tasks which the Soviet authorities brought to the management of the aircraft plant. During this period, the plant specialized in the production of K‑4 and K‑5 passenger aircrafts, as well as in the maintenance and repair of other aircrafts operated on domestic airlines of JSC Ukrpovitroshlyakh. In general, S. O. Kryvokon successfully coped with his responsibilities, which led to his transfer to other aviation companies that needed vigorous leadership. In the last years of his life, he headed the construction of Voronezh Aviation Plant No 18, and after its commissioning he held the position of deputy director of this enterprise. The historical and biographical methods are used in the context of research of life and activity of S. O. Kryvokon as a business executive and crisis manager of the Soviet period. It was found that due to his organizational skills and energy S. O. Kryvokon made a significant contribution to the formation and