Быстрица-2 4305447

Быстрица-2

The Bystritsa-2 is a ten-key electromechanical calculator featuring the four basic arithmetic operations. It was manufactured in Kirov, USSR by the Kirov electric machine-building production association in 1975. The manufacturing date is stamped underneath the case - 41/75, where the number 41 refers to the week i.e. 06.-12.10.1975

In the early 1970s, the Danish A/S Brdr Carlsen sold their Contex series manufacturing line¹, coinciding with the rise of electronic calculators in the market. During this period, USSR clones named Bystritsa and Bystritsa-2 emerged. The Bystritsa indistinguishably resembled the Contex-20, while the Bystritsa-2 was identical to the Contex-30. There is no confirmed information regarding the Soviet acquisition of the Contex manufacturing line from Denmark, but it cannot be ruled out.
¹ Source: The Old Calculator Web Museum

This machine was acquired in 2018 from the former Valga KEK office building located in the southern Estonian city of Tõrva. It was used in the accounting department of the collective farm building company Valga KEK. The calculator has inventory number 1889 marked on its housing.

Weight: 3,16kg
Dimensions: 20 x 26 x 10 cm

Year of manufacture: 1975

Serial №: E7 4305447

Manufacturer:
	Кировский электромашиностроительное производственное объединение им. Лепсе Kirov electric machine-building production association named after Lepse Kirov, USSR

Related items:

Contex-55
A/S BRDR. CARLSEN

Вычислительная машина Быстрица-2

Did you know ...?
The KEK, "collective farm building company" (abbrevation from Estonian), was a semi-independent enterprise in the Soviet economy system. Originally, every rural district had its own KEK of which management was elected by the district's collective farms administrations. The main task of KEKs was to build any type of farm building for owners, i.e. collective farms. During the years, the governmental socialistic system being insufficient and unable to develop rural areas, KEKs grew and developed into multi-activity gigants. Their wide field of activities covered everything from construction work and manufacturing building materials to electronics and chemical industry (plastic molding, etc).

One of the most developed KEKs in the Estonian SSR was Harju KEK, located in the city of Keila near the capital of Tallinn. It was founded in 1956 by 26 collective farms from Harju district. The company developed rapidly, and in the 1980s it had over 2000 employees, covered 520 000 square meters (52 ha) of area in Keila, built its own headquarters in Keila (the building was elected for the best building of ESSR in 1985). The whole city grew with KEK — apartment houses, kindergartens, schools, and malls were erected.