GHDI logo


Construction of the Oil Refinery in Schwedt (1962)

A treaty signed in Moscow on December 18, 1959, called for the construction of a crude oil pipeline from the Soviet Union, through Poland, to Schwedt on the Oder River in the GDR. On November 11, 1960, the cornerstone was laid for a crude oil combine [Kombinat] in Schwedt. The 3,100 mile pipeline “Friendship” was dedicated on December 18, 1963, and the nationally-owned Schwedt crude oil refinery became operational on April 1, 1964. In 1970, it was transformed into the Schwedt Petrochemical Combine (PCK). The PCK played a central role in the GDR’s energy economy: approximately four-fifths of oil imports from the Soviet Union flowed through the “Friendship” pipeline toward Schwedt. Moreover, the Schwedt combine accounted for three-fourths of the GDR’s total oil refining capacity. The refinement of oil products was the main source of valuta in the planned economy. Photo by Horst E. Schulze.

print version     return to image list last image in previous chapter      next image

Construction of the Oil Refinery in Schwedt (1962)

© Bildarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz / Horst E. Schulze