OREANDA-NEWS. February 16, 2009. A book “Director General” devoted to Lev Vasilyev, the first Director General of KAMAZ, was presented in KAMAZ Cultural and Business Complex on 7 February.

Lev B. Vasilyev headed the Kama heavy-duty vehicle plant from the beginning of KAMAZ and Chelny objects construction to the moment when the second stage of KAMAZ was put into commission.

Lev Vasilyev, Deputy Minister of Automobile and Agricultural Engineering of the USSR, who had risen up the ladder of advancement from a simple trucker to the director of Moskvitch AZLK and gone through the Great Patriotic War, was 44 years old when he was appointed Director General of the auto giant in 1969. It is remarkable that Sergey Kogoghin – the current fifth Director General, ex-Minister of Economy and Industry of Tatarstan – was also 44 when he headed KAMAZ in 2002. On February 7, 2009 the “father” of KAMAZ was 84. Lev Vasilyev lives in Moscow, he is bright and cheerful, full of life and zip as before. His successors never lost touch with him; today’s managers of the company willingly take his advice.

The guests of the presentation of the book “Director General” practically celebrated their first Director General’s birthday, and the initiators, authors and sponsors of the project made the famous KAMAZ manager a present for this event. This is the third book of the cycle “Chelny Biographies”. The first two books were devoted to Rais K. Belyaev, ex-First Secretary of the City Committee, and Marat S. Bibishev, Director of Integrated House-Building Factory of KamGESenergostroy Production Association.

Kirill Puzyrkov, Deputy Director General of Human Resource Management and Organizational Development, made a speech on behalf of the KAMAZ management. He noted that Lev Borisovich’s authority is unquestionable both in the history of KAMAZ and Naberezhnye Chelny and in the history of the Russian automotive industry. He is the Russian Henry Ford. The largest and last top-priority Komsomol project of the country in the 20-ieth century is still the most grandiose automobile project of the world.

There were quite a few KAMAZ and Chelny veterans of work in the hall who knew Lev Vasilyev during 12 years of his work at KAMAZ. Many of them became characters of this historical and journalistic book. The authors of the book, Chelny journalists Irina Yakovleva and Nina Shishkina, told about their work and named those who shared their memories with them, gave them necessary materials from their private archives, numerous documents and photographs. Miroslav Markovsky who in those years worked as a production manager at KAMAZ made a speech on behalf of veterans. The speeches were accompanied with a slide show according to the materials of the book. The presentation was finished with demonstration of a video film with Lev B. Vasilyev’s address.

The book “Director General” was published by order of the Executive Committee of the Municipality “The City of Naberezhnye Chelny” with the participation of KAMAZ Inc. and 1000 copies of the book were printed in Idel-Press PIK OAO (Kazan).