Neringa (Vilnius Cultural Goods Production Association "Neringa", lt, Vilniaus kultūrinių prekių gamybinis susivienijimas "Neringa", Vilniaus KPGS "Neringa") was a

production association Production association (russian: Производственное объединение) was a form of the organization of industry in the Soviet Union. According to the ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'', it is "a single specialized production and ec ...

Lithuanian SSR The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; lt, Lietuvos Tarybų Socialistinė Respublika; russian: Литовская Советская Социалистическая Республика, Litovskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialistiche ...

best known as the major

toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pet ...

manufacturer in the country.

History

After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

there were several private businesses in toy manufacturing in Lithuania. In 1965 they were nationalized and put under the Ministry of Domestic Industry of the LSSR. In 1972 three major toy enterprises of

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

, "Žaislas" ("Toy"), "Lėlė" ("Doll") and "Vienybė" ("Unity") were merged to form "Neringa" association. In 1974 or 1975 the association was joined by the Metal Structure Plant in Bukčiai, in 1980 it incorporated the

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

company "Aidas" ("Echo"), which manufactured children's furniture, strollers and musical instruments: metallophones, harmonicas, etc. In its heyday the association had over 3,000 workers.Žaisladirbių istorijos IV. Gamybinis susivienijimas „Neringa“
Toy Museum, Lithuania The production was mainly distributed wholesale. There also was a brand store in Vilnius. The association distributed toys not only in the country, but all over the Soviet Union. As with most industries in the Soviet Union, the association had its share in manufacturing goods for the military. For example, the metal goods workshop "Aidas" had to manufacture

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

casings and its canisters were sold, e.g., to the army of

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

. In 1988 the association became independent of the Ministry of Domestic Industry. In 1992, after the regaining of the independence of

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

, all production associations were dissolved into private companies. The resulting small toy companies were unable to retain good toy designers and to compete with foreign manufacturers. As a result of this and the closure of the large Russian market in mid-90s nearly all of them went bankrupt by the end of the 20th century.

Key persons

*, director (1981-1992)Algimantas MATULEVIČIUS
a

Seimas The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas), or simply the Seimas (), is the unicameral parliament of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of government in Lithuania, enacting laws and amendmen ...

webpage

References

{{reflist Defunct manufacturing companies of Lithuania Defunct toy manufacturers Toy companies established in 1972 Companies disestablished in 1992