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After partial destruction in World War II and the dissolution of IG Farben, the works were transferred into a Soviet holding. About half of the remaining production plants were dismantled and shipped to the [[Soviet Union]] as [[war reparations]]. In the following years, the Leuna site was gradually rebuilt and expanded. In 1954 the works were transferred into [[public property]] and became known as "[[Volkseigener Betrieb|VEB]] Leuna-Werke [[Walter Ulbricht]]", the largest chemical production site in the [[German Democratic Republic]]. Next to the existing plant, the construction of ''Leuna II'' started in 1959. This was a modern [[petrochemistry|petrochemical]] plant, with equipment such as a [[Cracking (chemistry)|cracking]] plant for the production of [[ethylene]] and [[propene]] and the subsequent processing facilities for the production of [[phenol]], [[caprolactam]], and [[HDPE]] partly being supplied domestically, partly being imported from the [[Federal Republic of Germany]], the Soviet Union, and the [[United Kingdom]]. In the 1950s an oil refinery was built, which processed [[crude oil]] supplied from the Soviet Union via a branch of the [[Druzhba pipeline]]. The latter also had a branch to [[Rostock]] port allowing the import of oil of other origin by sea.
Following the oil price hikes of 1973/1974 and of 1979/1980 and the reduced supply from the Soviet Union, substantial investments were made in the oil processing industry. New, more sophisticated cracking plants were imported from the Federal Republic of Germany, from [[Japan]], [[Austria]], and [[Sweden]], and were operated with modern [[distributed control system]]s originating in the FRG and the [[United States]]. Thereby, the fraction of so-called "black products" such as [[bitumen]] and heavy [[fuel oil]] was reduced to almost zero in favour of the "white products" such as [[gasoline]], [[diesel fuel]], and light [[heating oil]]. Motor fuels produced in Leuna II were also exported outside the socialist
Leunawerke employed about 30000 persons, the fenced-in complex extended over an area about 7 km long and 3 km wide. Two railway stations on the [[Halle–Bebra railway]] and several stops of [[Trams in Halle (Saale)|Halle tramway]] line 5 served the works.
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