diff --git a/jps/antLayout/src/jetbrains/antlayout/datatypes/ZipContainer.java b/jps/antLayout/src/jetbrains/antlayout/datatypes/ZipContainer.java
index f96476643fd0..e22c7ac583c0 100644
--- a/jps/antLayout/src/jetbrains/antlayout/datatypes/ZipContainer.java
+++ b/jps/antLayout/src/jetbrains/antlayout/datatypes/ZipContainer.java
@@ -1,84 +1,83 @@
-package jetbrains.antlayout.datatypes;
-
-import jetbrains.antlayout.util.TempFileFactory;
-import jetbrains.antlayout.util.LayoutFileSet;
-import org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.Zip;
-import org.apache.tools.ant.BuildException;
-
-import java.io.File;
-import java.util.Arrays;
-import java.util.List;
-
-/**
- * @author max
- */
-public class ZipContainer extends Container {
-    private String name;
-    protected Zip task;
-
-    public ZipContainer() {
-        task = createTask();
-        task.setCompress(false); // Default compress is false
-    }
-
-    public String getName() {
-        return name;
-    }
-
-    public void setName(String name) {
-        this.name = name;
-    }
-
-    public List<LayoutFileSet> build(TempFileFactory temp) {
-        List<LayoutFileSet> built = super.build(temp);
-        File dest = temp.allocateTempFile(name);
-
-        task.setProject(getProject());
-        task.setDestFile(dest);
-
-        for (LayoutFileSet set : built) {
-            task.addZipfileset(set);
-        }
-
-        LayoutFileSet result = new LayoutFileSet();
-        result.setFile(dest);
-
-        task.perform();
-
-        return Arrays.asList(result);
-    }
-
-    protected Zip createTask() {
-        Zip task = new Zip();
-        task.setTaskName("zip");
-        return task;
-    }
-
-    public void setCompress(boolean compress) {
-        task.setCompress(compress);
-    }
-
-    public void setFilesonly(boolean f) {
-        task.setFilesonly(f);
-    }
-
-    public void setDuplicate(Zip.Duplicate df) {
-        task.setDuplicate(df);
-    }
-
-    public void setEncoding(String encoding) {
-        task.setEncoding(encoding);
-    }
-
-    public void setBasedir(File baseDir) {
-        task.setBasedir(baseDir);
-    }
-
-    public void validateArguments() throws BuildException {
-        super.validateArguments();
-
-        if (name == null) {
-            throw new BuildException("name attribute must be specified for zipentry or jarentry");
-        }
-    }
-}
+package jetbrains.antlayout.datatypes;
+
+import jetbrains.antlayout.util.TempFileFactory;
+import jetbrains.antlayout.util.LayoutFileSet;
+import org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.Zip;
+import org.apache.tools.ant.BuildException;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.List;
+
+/**
+ * @author max
+ */
+public class ZipContainer extends Container {
+    private String name;
+    protected Zip task;
+
+    public ZipContainer() {
+        task = createTask();
+    }
+
+    public String getName() {
+        return name;
+    }
+
+    public void setName(String name) {
+        this.name = name;
+    }
+
+    public List<LayoutFileSet> build(TempFileFactory temp) {
+        List<LayoutFileSet> built = super.build(temp);
+        File dest = temp.allocateTempFile(name);
+
+        task.setProject(getProject());
+        task.setDestFile(dest);
+
+        for (LayoutFileSet set : built) {
+            task.addZipfileset(set);
+        }
+
+        LayoutFileSet result = new LayoutFileSet();
+        result.setFile(dest);
+
+        task.perform();
+
+        return Arrays.asList(result);
+    }
+
+    protected Zip createTask() {
+        Zip task = new Zip();
+        task.setTaskName("zip");
+        return task;
+    }
+
+    public void setCompress(boolean compress) {
+        task.setCompress(compress);
+    }
+
+    public void setFilesonly(boolean f) {
+        task.setFilesonly(f);
+    }
+
+    public void setDuplicate(Zip.Duplicate df) {
+        task.setDuplicate(df);
+    }
+
+    public void setEncoding(String encoding) {
+        task.setEncoding(encoding);
+    }
+
+    public void setBasedir(File baseDir) {
+        task.setBasedir(baseDir);
+    }
+
+    public void validateArguments() throws BuildException {
+        super.validateArguments();
+
+        if (name == null) {
+            throw new BuildException("name attribute must be specified for zipentry or jarentry");
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/jps/src/org/jetbrains/jps/Jps.groovy b/jps/src/org/jetbrains/jps/Jps.groovy
index b373f14ffb7c..466f820bcc0b 100644
--- a/jps/src/org/jetbrains/jps/Jps.groovy
+++ b/jps/src/org/jetbrains/jps/Jps.groovy
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ final class Jps {
     binding.setVariable("layout", {String dir, Closure body ->
       def old = binding.getVariable("module")
 
-      ["module", "jar", "zip", "dir"].each {tag ->
+      ["module", "zip", "dir"].each {tag ->
         binding.setVariable(tag, {Object[] args ->
           if (args.length == 1) {
             binding.ant."$tag"(name: args[0])
@@ -52,6 +52,14 @@ final class Jps {
           }
         })
       }
+      binding.setVariable("jar", {Object[] args ->
+        if (args.length == 2) {
+          binding.ant.jar(name: args[0], compress: project.builder.compressJars, args[1])
+        }
+        else {
+          project.error("unexpected number of parameters for 'jar' task: $args.length")
+        }
+      })
 
       binding.setVariable("renamedFile", {Object[] args ->
         if (args.length != 2) {
diff --git a/jps/src/org/jetbrains/jps/ProjectBuilder.groovy b/jps/src/org/jetbrains/jps/ProjectBuilder.groovy
index f2348e458ab6..cc8d3b3c84a7 100644
--- a/jps/src/org/jetbrains/jps/ProjectBuilder.groovy
+++ b/jps/src/org/jetbrains/jps/ProjectBuilder.groovy
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ class ProjectBuilder {
   final List<JpsBuildListener> listeners = [new BuildStatisticsListener()]
   BuildInfoPrinter buildInfoPrinter = new DefaultBuildInfoPrinter()
   boolean useInProcessJavac
+  boolean compressJars = true
 
   def ProjectBuilder(GantBinding binding, Project project) {
     this.project = project
diff --git a/jps/src/org/jetbrains/jps/artifacts/CompositeLayoutElement.groovy b/jps/src/org/jetbrains/jps/artifacts/CompositeLayoutElement.groovy
index e0a6099fcf38..949abb85a576 100644
--- a/jps/src/org/jetbrains/jps/artifacts/CompositeLayoutElement.groovy
+++ b/jps/src/org/jetbrains/jps/artifacts/CompositeLayoutElement.groovy
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ package org.jetbrains.jps.artifacts
 
 import org.jetbrains.jps.Project
 
-/**
+ /**
  * @author nik
  */
 abstract class CompositeLayoutElement extends LayoutElement {
@@ -60,8 +60,9 @@ class ArchiveElement extends CompositeLayoutElement {
 
   def build(Project project) {
     if (name.endsWith(".jar")) {
-      project.binding.ant.jar(name: name, filesetmanifest: "mergewithoutmain", duplicate: "preserve", {
-        buildChildren(project)
+      project.binding.ant.jar(name: name, filesetmanifest: "mergewithoutmain", duplicate: "preserve",
+                              compress: project.builder.compressJars, {
+            buildChildren(project)
       })
     }
     else {
diff --git a/jps/src/org/jetbrains/jps/idea/IdeaProjectLoader.groovy b/jps/src/org/jetbrains/jps/idea/IdeaProjectLoader.groovy
index 423f35e4197a..be86d4e618f2 100644
--- a/jps/src/org/jetbrains/jps/idea/IdeaProjectLoader.groovy
+++ b/jps/src/org/jetbrains/jps/idea/IdeaProjectLoader.groovy
@@ -150,13 +150,13 @@ public class IdeaProjectLoader {
 
   private def loadProjectJdkAndOutput(Node root) {
     def componentTag = getComponent(root, "ProjectRootManager")
-    def sdkName = componentTag."@project-jdk-name"
+    def sdkName = componentTag?."@project-jdk-name"
     def sdk = project.sdks[sdkName]
     if (sdk == null) {
       project.info("Project SDK '$sdkName' is not defined. Embedded javac will be used")
     }
-    def outputTag = componentTag.output[0];
-    String outputPath = outputTag != null ? pathFromUrl(outputTag.'@url') : null;
+    def outputTag = componentTag?.output?.getAt(0)
+    String outputPath = outputTag != null ? pathFromUrl(outputTag.'@url') : null
     projectOutputPath = outputPath != null && outputPath.length() > 0 ? projectMacroExpander.expandMacros(outputPath) : null
     project.projectSdk = sdk
   }
diff --git a/jps/testData/compressTest/compressTest.ipr b/jps/testData/compressTest/compressTest.ipr
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..1949d233e6e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jps/testData/compressTest/compressTest.ipr
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<project version="4">
+  <component name="ArtifactManager">
+    <artifact type="jar" name="data">
+      <output-path>$PROJECT_DIR$/out/</output-path>
+      <root id="archive" name="data.jar">
+        <element id="file-copy" path="$PROJECT_DIR$/data/a.txt" />
+      </root>
+    </artifact>
+  </component>
+</project>
+
diff --git a/jps/testData/compressTest/data/a.txt b/jps/testData/compressTest/data/a.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..9e77bd9e1c87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jps/testData/compressTest/data/a.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
+Some very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string
diff --git a/jps/testSrc/org/jetbrains/jps/CompressTest.groovy b/jps/testSrc/org/jetbrains/jps/CompressTest.groovy
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..820b62f1b482
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jps/testSrc/org/jetbrains/jps/CompressTest.groovy
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+package org.jetbrains.jps
+
+/**
+ * @author nik
+ */
+class CompressTest extends JpsBuildTestCase {
+  public void testCompress() throws Exception {
+    File jarFile = doBuildJar({})
+    assertTrue(jarFile.size() < 1000)
+  }
+
+  public void testNotCompress() throws Exception {
+    File jarFile = doBuildJar {Project project ->
+      project.builder.compressJars = false
+    }
+    assertTrue(jarFile.size() > 5000)
+  }
+
+  private File doBuildJar(Closure initProject) {
+    Project project = buildAll("testData/compressTest/compressTest.ipr", [:], initProject)
+    File jarFile = new File(project.targetFolder + "/artifacts/data/data.jar")
+    assertTrue("$jarFile.absolutePath doesn't exist", jarFile.exists())
+    return jarFile
+  }
+}
diff --git a/jps/testSrc/org/jetbrains/jps/JpsBuildTestCase.groovy b/jps/testSrc/org/jetbrains/jps/JpsBuildTestCase.groovy
index e1bbc360bd39..64e68f32d4d4 100644
--- a/jps/testSrc/org/jetbrains/jps/JpsBuildTestCase.groovy
+++ b/jps/testSrc/org/jetbrains/jps/JpsBuildTestCase.groovy
@@ -16,6 +16,14 @@ abstract class JpsBuildTestCase extends TestCase {
   }
 
   def doTest(String projectPath, Map<String, String> pathVariables, Closure initProject, Closure expectedOutput) {
+    Project project = buildAll(projectPath, pathVariables, initProject)
+
+    def root = new FileSystemItem(name: "<root>")
+    initFileSystemItem(root, expectedOutput)
+    root.assertDirectoryEqual(new File(project.targetFolder), "");
+  }
+
+  def protected buildAll(String projectPath, Map<String, String> pathVariables, Closure initProject) {
     def binding = new GantBinding()
     binding.includeTool << Jps
     def project = new Project(binding)
@@ -26,10 +34,7 @@ abstract class JpsBuildTestCase extends TestCase {
     project.clean()
     project.makeAll()
     project.buildArtifacts()
-
-    def root = new FileSystemItem(name: "<root>")
-    initFileSystemItem(root, expectedOutput)
-    root.assertDirectoryEqual(target, "");
+    return project
   }
 
   def initFileSystemItem(FileSystemItem item, Closure initializer) {