On August 26, 2021, at the age of 75, the candidate of technical sciences, a well-known scientist in the field of means of mechanization of viticulture Sapozhnikov Anatoly Mikhailovich, passed away.

Anatoly Mikhailovich was born on August 17, 1947. After graduating from high school in 1965, he entered the Kharkov Institute of Mechanization and Electrification of Agriculture, which he successfully graduated in 1970. Having received a specialty, in the direction he began his labor activity in 1970 as the head of mechanized workshops, and then as the chief engineer of the state farm named after 14 years of October of the Slavyanoserbsk special trust of the Voroshilovograd (now Luhansk) region, where he worked until 1974. In 1974 he went to work in the mechanization department of the Ukrainian Research Institute of Viticulture and Winemaking. VE Tairov, which for many years became a native institution.

Here, at the institute, Anatoly Mikhailovich went through all the stages of the formation of a scientist: design engineer, junior researcher, senior and leading researcher.

In the first years of the beginning of A. M. Sapozhnikov’s work at the institute, the question arose of a sharp increase in the cultivation of planting material for grapes in Ukraine. With a shortage of workers who know grape nursery in specialized farms, this became a serious problem. Therefore, the main efforts were directed to the search and development of machines and tools for the mechanization and automation of the vaccination production process – from the calibration of the scion and rootstock cuttings by diameter, the blinding of the rootstock cuttings to the manufacture of the grafting itself. Anatoly Mikhailovich was actively involved in this work.

Based on the results of research and design work, Anatoly Mikhailovich prepared and successfully defended in January 1982 a thesis for the degree of candidate of technical sciences on the topic «Research of a rational scheme and determination of the optimal technological and design parameters of the working bodies of the machine for cutting and sizing grape cuttings.» In his dissertation work, Anatoly Mikhailovich for the first time substantiated the technological parameters of the calibration of cuttings (the values of the calibration intervals and their ratio for rootstock and scion cuttings), the schemes and parameters of the balancing device, the measuring device and the transporting system of the calibration machine.

Based on the research carried out, the design of a semi-automatic calibration machine for cutting and sizing grape cuttings was developed. The machine provided an increase in the accuracy of calibration of cuttings by 25-30% and productivity by 3-4 times in comparison with the previously produced serial calibration machine MZKCH-3. The results obtained formed the basis for the semiautomatic device PNK-1 for sizing and cutting grape cuttings developed at the Plodselkhozmash State Design Bureau (Chisinau), which was included in the Machine System and put into serial production.

Further, there was active work in the research and development of a set of semi-automatic machines for the production of grape grafts on an industrial basis, the development of a set of machines for preparing the soil, planting grafts and caring for them in a grape school, digging out grape seedlings.

A.M. Sapozhnikov takes part in the development of energy-saving technologies and tools for preparing the soil for planting grape seedlings, cultivating the soil in rows and aisles of grape plantations, applying mineral and organic fertilizers, developing means of mechanizing trellis arrangement in vineyards and uprooting unpromising plantations. He participates in the testing and improvement of grape-harvesting equipment and means of mechanization for pre-harvest pruning of bushes.

A knowledgeable, experienced specialist in machines and implements for the production of grape grafting, vineyard and grape school care, Anatoly Mikhailovich advises farm specialists, provides direct assistance in setting up machines and training farm staff and winegrowers-farmers and amateurs, enjoys well-deserved authority and respect. In recent years, he has been developing a machine for collecting and pressing grape scraps with the aim of their further use as solid fuel.

According to the results of the research, Anatoly Mikhailovich published about 100 scientific papers in specialized journals and collections, received 22 copyright certificates and patents.

Sapozhnikov Anatoly Mikhailovich was awarded a silver medal of VDNKh for achievements in the development of the national economy of the USSR, certificates of honor of the Odessa regional state administration, the organization of trade unions and workers of the agro-industrial complex, and was also awarded the Badge of Honor «Honored Worker of the NSC «IViV im. V.E. Tairov».

The institute staff deeply grieves over the irreparable loss. The bright memory of a wonderful person will forever remain in the hearts of loved ones, colleagues, students and everyone who knew Anatoly Mikhailovich.