Gennady Leonidovich
Krause
1922-2002
Gennady Leonidovich Krause was a Soviet and Russian transport worker and organizer of truck transportation. He was the head of the First Automobile Plant in Moscow from 1958 until his death in 2002. He was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labour in 1981 and Honoured Worker of Transport of the RSFSR in 1984. In addition, he was named an Honorary Citizen of Moscow in 1997. Krause was born in the Pskov region in 1922, the son of a rural teacher. At the age of 17, he moved with his mother to Smolensk after his father left the family. He worked on a farm with his father and became a skilled horseman. During World War II, he dropped out of school to help with the war effort. After the war, he returned to Smolensk and worked as a truck driver. In 1958, Krause became the head of the First Automobile Plant in Moscow. Under his leadership, the plant grew into a major industrial complex, producing trucks and buses. He remained in this position until his death. He was surrounded but managed to escape by crossing the front line. After being injured, he was sent to the Moscow Machine Gun School. Upon returning to the front, he commanded a machine gun company and then served in regimental intelligence. As adjutant to the commander of the 216th Guards Rifle Regiment, he received the medal “For Courage” and the Order of the Red Star. After the war, he continued to serve in an automobile unit until the end, meeting his wife in Vienna. Demobilized with the rank of senior lieutenant and commander of an automobile company, he returned to Moscow, where his mother had been evacuated. In 1946, he joined Carpool № 35, a carpool for moving and dismantling buildings, as part of the Krasnopresnensky District Committee of the Komsomol. Based in Mnevniki, this carpool became his place of employment for many years. In 1958, small automobile companies in Moscow were combined into Automobile Plant No. 1 by Glavmosavtotrans in order to provide large-scale truck transportation for construction projects. On May 5th, 1958, Glavmosavtotrans appointed G. L. Krause as the director of the new automobile factory, which became the largest in the USSR with more than 800 vehicles and thousands of employees. Under Krause’s leadership, work began at the central plant and branches, car repair services were established, and business relationships were organized with other Moscow enterprises, such as the House-Building Plant №1. In 1965, Automobile Plant No. 1 participated in an experiment on economic independence of enterprises, initiated by A. N. Kosygin. This experiment lasted one year and resulted in an 80% increase in the company’s profits. This success strengthened Krause’s position as a leader. The work of the automobile plant also contributed to the development of panel housing construction in Moscow by reducing the empty mileage of cars. To achieve this, a network of branches was created near house-building and building materials factories. This decentralized approach was combined with centralized transportation management and the presence of a repair base, which produced specialized trailers not manufactured by the industry. During Krause’s tenure, the automobile plant acquired a sports base in the Moscow region, supported a state-owned wine farm in Alushta, and built a boarding house for its employees on its own territory.. These actions caused complaints, which nearly led to Krause’s dismissal from his position and expulsion from the party. In 1993, the Automobile Plant No. 1 was converted into JSC “First Automobile Plant”, where Krause continued as the general director. The company fully preserved its assets during the difficult period of the 1990s.
Address: Moscow, Mnevniki St., 1
