Throughout the years in action, OKBM has made a great contribution to the development of the Russian nuclear industry, the energy sector and the fleet.

[2] The company was founded in 1945, by the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated December 27, 1945,[3] a Special Design Bureau (OKB) was established on the basis of the Nizhny Novgorod Machine-building Plant to create equipment for the nuclear industry.

In 1985, the OKB was awarded the Order of the October Revolution for its significant contribution to the development of nuclear technology.

In 2008, the open joint-stock company “Experimental Design Bureau of Mechanical Engineering named after I. I. Afrikantov” was registered.

The company was created as a result of the transformation of the federal state's unitary enterprise “Experimental Design Bureau of Mechanical Engineering named after I. I. Afrikantov” and became its legal successor.