6 Jul 2022 09:23

Shvabe to resume making telescopes at LZOS after 20 years

YEKATERINBURG. July 6 (Interfax) - Shvabe Holding, a subsidiary of Russian state corporation Rostec, has signed a cooperation agreement with Levenhuk that calls for manufacturing and selling high-tech telescopes, Shvabe said in a press release.

Shvabe's Lytkarinsky Optical Glass Plant (LZOS) has produced two new models of Newton telescopes with high optical characteristics. They have a 130-mm mirror and removable lens.

Under the agreement, LZOS will soon deliver the first batch of telescopes to Levenhuk for sale.

LZOS deputy general director Sergei Ponin told Interfax on the sidelines of the Innoprom-2022 exhibition that the company had not manufactured such products in Russia for more than 20 years.

"This signing shows that we are resuming production. The contract will be for the delivery of a trial batch of 240 telescopes. The fulfillment period is this year. This is just the beginning, we plan to further expand our line," Ponin said.

He said the company intends to gradually replace foreign products. "We're talking about tens of thousands of units. We have a big plant, we produced such volumes before," he said, adding that the bigger the scale of production "the better for us."

"We plan to sign all documents by the end of the year. At the beginning of next year, the series will already be upwards of 10,000 units," Ponin said.

The telescopes will be made completely from Russian materials. "Localization is 100%, the optics are ours, the metal and plastic are ours. The pandemic, when shipments from China stopped, helped us make the decision; now it's more convenient for big players to work with us. Considering that our price and quality will be competitive, we see potential in this area," Ponin said.

LZOS is also prepared to resume manufacturing binoculars, which it produced in the Soviet era, he said.

"I think that the situation that is taking shape now will help us return this market and develop our brand. At one time the plant produced 70,000 binoculars per month. Now we're prepared to return to this. All the technologies have remained, optical equipment has become more high-tech, so we're ready to completely replace foreign manufacturers," Ponin said.

Levenhuk CEO Anton Yepifanov said his company will use its established distribution network, which specializes exclusively in optics, for this project.

LZOS is Russia's leading manufacturer of optical materials and large astronomical mirrors. The company said it has a 98% share of the domestic market.