Other Yeghegnadzor Knitting Factory, Armenia - March 2023 (Permission Visit)

[The_Raw]

The Yeghegnadzor Knitting Factory in Armenia was founded in 1978, and ceased operations in the 90s. Everything has been left just how it was, and Hayk, the owner, keeps a close eye on it as he runs the workshop next door. Alongside children’s sweaters and underwear, the factory produced gloves and socks for the army. Each day, twenty tons of fabric for the gloves reached Yeghegnadzor from a factory in the Ural Mountains. Every third day, a twenty-ton container of gloves was shipped by train to a military facility in Moscow, where the gloves were redistributed to defense units across the country. According to Hayk, this was the only factory in the USSR that made gloves for the Ministry of Defense. Rather than selling off the assets, Hayk has preserved the factory in the hope that one day he can bring it back into use. Upstairs he has also compiled a small collection of artefacts from the Soviet era. The factory is well locked up, so we contacted the owner via a phone number I found online. He didn't speak any English so put us in touch with his son, who agreed to give us access for a small fee. I'm not sure if his dad would have charged us, as he seemed really proud of the place and enjoyed showing us around. We only had half an hour if I remember correctly so photos were a bit rushed. We could have easily spent a whole day in here.

Hayk - the owner of the factory

A collection of the clothing that was manufactured here in the factory

That's all for now. Cheers 🍻​