Ei FEU "Pionir" Factory was founded in 1960, result of its dissociation from Ei "Pupin" Company, upon which it continued forming part of the "Electronic Industry" Corporation. Originally, the factory was located in Milovana Bondžulica Street, Belgrade. Its initial production program included Electronic Measurement Instruments (EMI), telegraph radio transceiver - with Morse codes, and ship-borne VHF-FM and HF-AM transceivers.
The development and production of the electronic measurement instruments lasted until 1976. Over 25 types of different measurement instruments were produced in that period of time. The production of the VHF-FM radio devices ("the first generation") started under the licensing contract with the Italian company "Prodel".
The factory's rapid increase of its own development capacities, the constant investments in the latest technologies of the time and the extensive experience acquired in the use of the same led to the mass production of transceivers, accompanying devices and accessories. The launching of two generations of originally developed transceivers in the period between 1962 and 1966 ensured the company a top position in the domestic radio communication market. Due to this steady growth of the production capacities, the needs of the factory soon surpassed its premises. Therefore, the Ei Pionir's Development and Production resources were split in two programs: "UKT" ("ultra-short waves", i.e. VHF/UHF program) and "KT" ("short waves", i.e. HF program). The section in charge of VHF/UHF program was moved to the Ei "Nikola Tesla" Factory's building, situated in Bulevar Revolucije Street, Belgrade.
This temporary solution lasted until 1971, when new manufacturing facilities were inaugurated in Batajnicki Put Street, Zemun, Belgrade (the site, with its effective working area of about 7.000 sqm, is still the seat of the Ei Pionir UKT Factory). Owing to these new spacious premises, accompanied by the acquirement of the up-to-date measurement equipment and the introduction of the modern organizational structure with 800 employees, once again it was possible to merge the two development and production programs. The final restructuring regarding the factory's location took place in 1985, when additional facilities were built for the HF program within the same site.
The aforesaid creation of the new business environment was followed by a wide expansion of our development and production capacities. In 1970's, the "third generation" of the originally developed transceivers was produced in more than 4.000 units per year quantity. Such achievements were clearly reflected in significant export results, primarily to the USSR market.
This trend continued in the following years. An ample range of different radio communication devices was developed, including the fourth and the fifth generation of VHF/UHF transceivers, which were among the Factory's best selling products in 1980's and 1990's. The special attention was paid to the integration of the various remote control systems. One of the most sophisticated realizations was the Automated system for urban public transport control, which was developed for the Russian customer in 1985. In the next years, a considerable amount of the in-vehicle equipment was delivered to the Moscow urban transport company.
The growing production was followed by constant upgrading of the technological basis. Among many other enhancements, the wave soldering equipment was installed in 1985. The significant renovation of the development and production capacities was performed in 1988 and 1989, and it primarily included investments in a specialized measurement equipment (radio communication test sets, spectrum analysers, digital oscilloscopes, etc.).
In 1994, the Ei Pionir was transformed into the Ei Pionir Holding, with two daughter companies - Ei Pionir UKT and Ei Pionir KT. Such an organizational structure has been retained till now.
In the 1996-1998 period, the highly modernized equipment for the Automated system for urban public transport control (ASU-2000) was developed and tested in the laboratory and exploitation conditions. Apart from the use of the most up-to-date technical and technological achievements, the original engineering solutions lead to the creation of the very successful export product. The quality of the equipment was finally proved by its highly reliable exploitation in Moscow, Russia. The solutions applied there represent an extraordinary background for the current and future projects of the Ei Pionir UKT Factory.