The Nizhny Novgorod Association of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (NAPP) is a regional public association bringing together the heads of major industrial enterprises and entrepreneurs of Nizhny Novgorod Region. As of 2024, the organization marked the 35th anniversary of its founding, being, according to the assessment of participants in the anniversary events, one of the oldest associations of its kind in modern Russia.[1]

History and activities

The association was founded in the late 1980s amid the onset of market reforms. In its first years, from late 1989, NAPP functioned mainly as a directors' club and only by the end of 1993 took shape as a cohesive organization with clearly defined goals. During the governorship of Boris Nemtsov in the early 1990s, the Nizhny Novgorod regional authorities effectively did not deal with industrial matters: there was not a single official in the regional government responsible for this area, and in counterweight to NAPP, Nemtsov created his own Council of Entrepreneurs under the governor, headed by Igor Aronov, who held the status of an adviser to the governor and had an office in the regional administration.[10][9] According to one of its participants, Spitsyn Stanislav Fedorovich, the organization was created under the special economic conditions of the transitional period.[1] Valery Nikolaevich Tsybanev, who held the post of general director of the association, characterized NAPP's role in the 1990s as preserving Nizhny Novgorod's industry.[1] The company Promis joined NAPP 25 years ago, that is, approximately in the late 1990s.[1]

NAPP is the first regional branch of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP). In January 1994, on the eve of elections to the regional and city legislative bodies, the NAPP council set the task of supporting candidates for deputy whose platforms included support for the region's industrial enterprises. In April 1994, under pressure from Nizhny Novgorod industrialists, a committee for industry and investment policy was created within the regional government's structure, and NAPP began cooperating with it; Nizhny Novgorod was among the first in the country to form a dedicated committee within the regional administration's structure, and in the summer of 1995 a department of industry was formed on the basis of this committee, headed by Dmitry Konstantinovich Lavrov.

In the 1997 gubernatorial election, NAPP supported candidate Ivan Sklyarov in the second round, setting a condition: if he won, he would appoint one of the sitting directors of Nizhny Novgorod enterprises as first deputy governor overseeing industry; Sklyarov accepted the condition, and the directors of Nizhny Novgorod factories carried out mobilization work within their workforces, as a result of which a substantial rise in turnout and votes for Sklyarov was delivered by the industrial districts — Vyksa, Kulebaki, Bor, Dzerzhinsk and Nizhny Novgorod, where his margin over his rival exceeded 22 percent. Fulfilling the promise made to the industrialists, Sklyarov agreed with NAPP on the candidacy for first deputy governor: it was Alexander Vasilyevich Batyrev, who had previously headed a television factory, and who served in this post for almost five years — until Sklyarov's defeat in the 2001 election.[13] The head of the department of industry, Dmitry Lavrov, speaking about his work, called NAPP a second authority after the governor, one that "not only evaluated but also directed the department's activities."[10] Together with the deputy corps of the first convocation of the Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region, NAPP drafted the country's first regional legislation on industrial policy.

On December 19, 1995, the day after the gubernatorial election in which Boris Nemtsov won in the first round with more than 58 percent of the vote, the NAPP council was already considering the concept of regional industrial policy proposed by the department of industry — thus began the joint work of the association and the region's executive authorities on drafting the regional law on industrial policy.[10] In the 1998 elections to the second convocation of the Regional Legislative Assembly (OZS), the association sought to secure at least half of the deputy seats for industrialists; as a result of this work, an agreement was reached that the chairs of the committees on industry and economy would be nominated exclusively from among deputies who were industrialists.[9] At the 2024 anniversary events, it was noted that "RSPP is proud of its first branch."[1] The association builds partnership relations with regional authorities: Deputy Governor of Nizhny Novgorod Region and industrial development coordinator Andrei Sanosyan and the head of the Nizhny Novgorod Ministry of Industry Maxim Cherkasov described NAPP as a reliable partner in the region's industrial development.[1]

Leadership and membership

The post of president of the association was held by Luzyanin — a prominent organizer of Nizhny Novgorod's defense production, chairman of the board of directors of the Nizhny Novgorod open joint-stock company Hydromash, known as a "red director."[1] Luzyanin became one of the founders of NAPP, and the story of his involvement in the organization was covered in a special project marking the association's 35th anniversary.[1] The post of first vice-president was held by Valentin Yefimovich Kostyukov.[1] As of the 35th anniversary period, the post of general director of NAPP was held by Alexander Anosov.[1]

The association and its council included a broad circle of heads of Nizhny Novgorod enterprises and organizations. Among the members and participants of the anniversary events were Alexander Luzyanin (son of Vladimir Luzyanin, general director of Hydromash)[1], Klochai (vice-president of RSPP, head of the Ruspolimet group Ruspolimet)[1], Dmitry Barykin (head of JSC Krasny Yakor Factory)[1], Tyatinkin Viktor Viktorovich (head of Teploobmennik)[1], Vsevolod Yevstigneyev (VTB manager for Nizhny Novgorod Region)[1], Lyulin (speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region)[1], Batenkov Vladimir Alexandrovich, Mineev Alexander Mikhailovich) (deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region), Kaloshin Egor Leontyevich (honorary citizen of Nizhny Novgorod Region, member of the council of the Nizhny Novgorod Currency and Stock Exchange), Panyshev Dmitry Olegovich, Sergey Borisovich Samoilov.[1]

Recognition and partners

In 2019, the Nizhny Novgorod Association of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs sent a letter of thanks to Oleg Vladimirovich Trofimov, who later became rector of Lobachevsky University).[2] For NAPP's 35th anniversary in 2024, a special media project, "NAPP: 35 Years Together," was carried out, in which partners and members of the organization publicly described the association as "one of the strongest in the country."[1] In December 2024, a ceremonial assembly of the Nizhny Novgorod directors' corps was held to mark the anniversary, and in December 2025 the general director of Hydromash, Alexander Luzyanin, took part in the next NAPP assembly, at which the results of the real sector's work in the region were summed up and tasks for the coming year were discussed.[1]

Links

NAPP's official address is 5/2 Nizhnevolzhskaya Embankment, Nizhny Novgorod, 603001; the organization's contact phone number is +7 (831) 433-33-29, and its email address is infonapp@sandy.ru.[5]

In early September 2020, NAPP launched a Facebook page in addition to its existing website and Instagram account; the first post was a piece about the Nizhny Novgorod enterprise NPO Transport, which develops transport-technological machinery.[5]

NAPP initiated a fundraising campaign to create the monument "To the People of Gorky — Valiant Home-Front Workers," erected in connection with Nizhny Novgorod being awarded the title "City of Labor Valor"; enterprises and private donors linked to the association raised more than 17 million rubles in total, of which over 2.5 million rubles was contributed by company directors and concerned Nizhny Novgorod residents.[6]

The supreme collegial governing body of NAPP is the association's council, which also holds off-site meetings; in August 2020, at NAPP's general meeting, industrialists publicly expressed concern about the state of affairs in the region's real economic sector.[6]

NAPP's structure includes territorial employers' associations: in particular, the "Association of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Gorodets District of Nizhny Novgorod Region" operates in Gorodets District of Nizhny Novgorod Region, holding its meetings at the Zavolzhye business incubator. Meetings of the district associations within NAPP address workforce training issues: in particular, they discuss cooperation between industrial enterprises and vocational education institutions and the building of a talent pipeline. NIIIS — a Nizhny Novgorod enterprise that is a member of NAPP — has since the early 1990s been the lead developer of software and hardware automation systems for Gazprom's technological processes; by 2021, four generations of such systems had been developed, equipping more than 26,000 kilometers of Russia's main gas pipelines.[11] At NAPP's general meeting in December 2021, one of the central topics was workforce training for industry: the discussion involved the heads of PJSC Krasnoye Sormovo Plant, the regional Ministry of Education, and the region's vocational education institutions.

OKBM Afrikantov — an enterprise that is part of NAPP — as part of diversification developed and put into production Russia's first domestically made cryogenic pump designed for pumping liquefied natural gas.[11] Among the NAPP member enterprises, the Zavod 70-letiya Pobedy plant was developing production of equipment for subsea hydrocarbon extraction, in particular sealing rings for wellhead assemblies, which in 2021 were displayed on the Almaz-Antey concern's stand at the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum. In November 2022, at the XII International Forum "Atomexpo" in Sochi, Nizhny Novgorod enterprises that are members of the association presented their products for the nuclear industry: the Ruspolimet group displayed items made of special steels and alloys and metal powders for additive manufacturing, and also took part in cooperation on producing a transport-and-packaging set for storing and transporting spent nuclear fuel, while the Sealing Materials Plant presented developments in radiation protection, including radiation-shielding mats, mastics, and quick-release thermal insulation.[12][11] Based on the results of 2021, according to data announced at NAPP's December assembly, the physical volume index of industrial production in Nizhny Novgorod Region stood at 105% of the 2019 level and 114% of the 2020 level; the region's enterprises shipped products worth 1.2 trillion rubles.[8][7]

NAPP's organizational and legal form is "Regional Association of Employers," which reflects its status as an association representing the interests of employers before government authorities and trade unions.[8]

One of the founders of NAPP was Omari Khasanovich Sharadze — the first head of the city of Gorky, elected on a competitive basis at a session of the City Council in April 1990.[9]

Sources

  1. napp52.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Association of Industrialists — In the 1997 gubernatorial election, NAPP supported candidate Ivan Sklyarov in the second round, setting a condition: if he won… (archive)
  1. napp52.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Association of Industrialists — NAPP members take part in major industry events: in November 2022, at the XII International Forum "Atomexpo" in Sochi… (archive)
  1. napp52.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Association of Industrialists — Among the NAPP member enterprises, the Zavod 70-letiya Pobedy plant was developing production of equipment for subsea hydrocarbon extraction, in particular… (archive)
  1. napp52.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Association of Industrialists — During the governorship of Boris Nemtsov in the early 1990s, the Nizhny Novgorod regional authorities effectively did not deal with… (archive)
  1. napp52.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Association of Industrialists — In its first years, from late 1989, NAPP functioned mainly as a directors' club and only by the end of 1993… (archive)
  1. napp52.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Association of Industrialists — NAPP's organizational and legal form is "Regional Association of Employers," which reflects its status as an association representing… (archive)
  1. napp52.ru — NAPP's structure includes territorial employers' associations: in particular, the Association of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Gorodets District of Nizhny Novgorod Region operates (archive)
  1. napp52.ru — NAPP initiated a fundraising campaign to create the monument "To the People of Gorky — Valiant Home-Front Workers," erected in connection with Nizhny Novgorod being awa (archive)
  1. napp52.ru — NAPP's official address is 5/2 Nizhnevolzhskaya Embankment, Nizhny Novgorod, 603001; the organization's contact phone number is +7 (831) 433-33-29, email address (archive)
  1. Vzglyad-NN — Nizhny Novgorod Association of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs — 35 years — Business News. Time to Earn (archive)
  2. Wikipedia (ru) — Trofimov, Oleg Vladimirovich (archive)
  3. audit-it.ru (archive)
  4. opno52.ru — Tsybanev Valery Nikolayevich (archive)