Industrial and power plant pipeline construction Bitterfeld
The VEB industrial and Kraftwerksrohrleitungsbau Bitterfeld was a state-owned enterprise (VEB) of the German Democratic Republic (GDR).
Predecessor companies
In 1917 E. Otto Dietrich from Bitterfeld founded an assembly company for pipeline construction whose customers were mainly in the expanding Bitterfeld-Wolfen industrial area. The company was founded in 1922 as "E. Otto Dietrich Rohrleitungsbau-Aktiengesellschaft ", in 1923 Mannesmann AG took over 50% of the share capital. Dietrich left the company, Mannesmann AG acquired 80% of the shares. In 1936 it was renamed "Deutsche Rohrleitungsbau A.-G.", and in 1938 the headquarters were moved from Bitterfeld to Leipzig. Orders were carried out in the USSR, Japan, Norway, Austria and Norway.
Pipeline construction in Bitterfeld and Muldenstein during the GDR era
The pipeline companies of Mannesmann AG, which were active in the area of the Soviet Zone , were converted into independent individual companies. This led to the formation of the Bitterfeld pipeline construction, to which the pipeline construction in the neighboring Muldenstein (Kr. Bitterfeld) was affiliated in 1947 . In 1947/48 a second pipeline construction company was set up on the site of the former Kali-Chemie in Bitterfeld, which was initially subordinate to the industrial works of Saxony-Anhalt. 1951 emerged from the two companies of VEB EKM Rohrleitungsbau Bitterfeld, which was subordinate to the VVB ( Association of Publicly Owned Companies ) energy and power engineering.
Since the government placed particular emphasis on securing the energy capacities of the GDR, the construction of power plants played a special role. The Bitterfeld plant participated. u. a. on the construction of the industrial power plants Lauchhammer (1953/55), " John Schehr " Laubusch (1954), "Sonne" Großräschen (1954/55), Bernburg (Saale) (1953/55), Trattendorf III power plant (1954), Lübbenau power plant (1958/64). The Markersbach pumped storage plant , the Boxberg power plant , the Jänschwalde power plant and the Stendal nuclear power plant and the Greifswald nuclear power plant were other projects in which the Bitterfelder were significantly involved.
The plant in Muldenstein started production of oil pipes in 1960 after Bitterfeld Pipeline Construction received an order in 1959 to manufacture 900 km of oil pipeline for the “Friendship” pipeline (USSR-Poland-GDR). This order was in connection with the chemistry program adopted by the Central Committee of the SED in the same year . a. provided for the establishment of a petrochemical industry . The experience gained in Muldenstein led to the construction of a new pipe welding plant in Bitterfeld, which started production on July 1, 1961. On January 1, 1962 , VEB EKM Rohrleitungsbau Bitterfeld was separated into VEB Industrie- und Kraftwerkrohrleitungsbau (IKR) Bitterfeld as an assembly company and VEB Rohrwerke Bitterfeld (ROB) as a workshop. As a result of the pipe embargo , the Bitterfeld company ROB built a modern spiral pipe plant in its Muldenstein branch, which was put into operation in November 1967 . In the following years, the Bitterfeld pipeline constructors were active in Algeria, Burma, Finland, Greece, India, Jordan, Nicaragua, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Thailand, Turkey, Uruguay and Vietnam. Another field of activity was the construction of facilities for natural gas production in the USSR along the " Druzhba route ".
In 1985 a large assembly company was set up under the leadership of VEB Industrie- und Kraftwerkrohrleitungsbau Bitterfeld as the lead company, with the result that VEB Rohrwerke Bitterfeld was assigned to VEB IKR as a part of the operation.
Transition to the market economy
After the German reunification in 1990 , Rohrwerke Bitterfeld separated again from the IKR and was converted into a GmbH . The Muldenstein company spun off and became Rohrwerke Muldenstein GmbH. On April 1, 1991, Rohrwerke Muldenstein GmbH became a subsidiary of Klöckner Stahl GmbH Bremen , which invested DM 51 million in the modernization of the plant. Rohrwerke Muldenstein GmbH was closed in 2000 after the market for steel pipes had shrunk significantly. Around 300 jobs were lost as a result. The Bitterfeld operating part of the Rohrwerke was sold in 1991 by the Treuhandanstalt to Industrie Union Aktiengesellschaft in Vaduz . This privatization failed, which resulted in the loss of 270 jobs.
VEB IKR was converted into a GmbH in 1990 and became a subsidiary of Babcock Rohrleitungsbau GmbH in Oberhausen . There was a steady reduction in jobs.