The Imperial Porcelain Factory (Russian: Императорский Фарфоровый Завод, Imperatorskii Farforovyi Zavod), also known as the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory (abbreviated as IPM), is a producer of hand-painted ceramics in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was established by Dmitry Ivanovich Vinogradov in 1744 and was supported by the Russian tsars since Empress Elizabeth. Many still refer to the factory by its well-known former name, the Lomonosov Porcelain Factory. With the abolition of the Russian monarchy in 1917, the Imperial Porcelain Factory was renamed "State Porcelain Factory" (GFZ - Gossudarstvennyi Farforovyi Zavod). During the early years of the Soviet Union, the GFZ produced so-called propaganda wares, ranging from plates to figurines of the Soviet elite. In 1925, on the occasion of the 200th jubilee of the Russian Academy of Science, it was given the name of the academy's founder, Mikhail Lomonosov. It became known as the Leningrad Lomonosov Porcelain Factory (LFZ - Leningradski Farforovyi Zavod imeni M.V. Lomonosova). The newly christened Lomonosov factory produced a range of wares, including collectible animal figurines and dinner sets. Its best-known pattern, cobalt net, first appeared in 1949. The design is based on a blue net pattern that was painted on raised lines cast into the porcelain dinnerware pieces of Catherine the Great. In post-Soviet time, in 1993, LFZ was privatized as the "Lomonosov Porcelain Factory". At that time, wide exports began to countries unfamiliar with Lomonosov wares, particularly the United States and Japan. KKR and The U.S. Russia Investment Fund owned 51% until 1999, when the Russian government nationalized the company.[ In 2002, LFZ was sold to Nikolai Tsvetkov, President of Nikoil. On 29 May 2005, the stockholders of Lomonosov Porcelain Factory passed a resolution to return to their pre-Soviet name, the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory. The IPM has recently started to produce hand-made copies of porcelain from the range of Imperial porcelain exhibited in the State Hermitage Museum collection. This range includes dinner sets, collectable plates, vases, figurines from the famous series of the Russian Peoples and other porcelain items from the assortment of porcelain made here since the foundation of the manufactory in 1744.