The economy of the Soviet Union was based on a system of state ownership and administrative planning. The Soviet Union created the modern world's first centrally planned economy. The first major project of the restructurization of the economy of the country was the GOELRO plan, that was introduced in 1920 and basically fulfilled by 1931. It included construction of a network of 30 regional power plants, including ten large hydroelectric power plants, and numerous electric-powered large industrial enterprises. The Plan became the prototype for subsequent five-year plans. A planned economy is an economic system in which economic decisions are made by centralized planners, who determine what sorts of goods and services to produce, and how they are to be priced and allocated. ... GOELRO plan (Russian: план ГОЭЛРО) was the first ever Soviet plan of recovery and development of the state economy, a prototype of Five Year Plans. ... A power station (also power plant) is a facility for the generation of electric power. ... Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is a form of hydropower, (i. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

From 1928 to 1991 the entire course of the economy was guided by a series of Five-Year Plans. The nation became among the world's three top manufacturers of a large number of basic and heavy industrial products, but lagged far behind in the output of light industrial production and consumer durables. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, all but a handful of the 15 former Soviet republics have dismantled their Soviet-style economies (see Transition from economic planning in the former Soviet Union). Year 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar). ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Soviet industry was usually divided into two major categories. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... ĘΜіşΚŏŏĻ This is a history of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991. ...

Planning

Based on a system of state ownership, the Soviet economy was managed through Gosplan (the State Planning Commission), Gosbank (the State Bank) and the Gossnab (State Commission for Materials and Equipment Supply). Beginning in 1928, the economy was directed by a series of five-year plans, with a brief attempt at seven-year planning. For every enterprise, planning ministries (also known as the "fund holders" or fondoderzhateli) defined the mix of economic inputs (e.g., labor and raw materials), a schedule for completion, all wholesale prices and almost all retail prices. However, for the average consumer the purchase of many consumer goods at retail level was not possible due to constant shortages of these goods. Many consumers were only able to fulfill their needs (albeit at higher prices than the official government-set retail prices) through a vast black market which existed in many forms throughout the entire history of the Soviet Union. Gosplan (Госпла́н) was the committee for economic planning in the Soviet Union. ... Gosbank- Gosudarstvennyy bank--the State Bank The Gosbank was the central bank of the Soviet Union. ... Gossnab was the state committee for material technical supply in the Soviet Union. ... Year 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Wholesaling consists of the sale of goods/merchandise to retailers, to industrial, commercial, institutional, or other professional business users or to other wholesalers and related subordinated services (WTO - World Trade Organization). ... For people whose family name is Price see Price (disambiguation). ...

Industry was long concentrated after 1928 on the production of capital goods through metallurgy, machine manufacture, and chemical industry. In Soviet terminology, the capital goods were known as group A goods, or means of production. This emphasis was based on the perceived necessity for a very fast industrialization and modernization of the Soviet Union. After the death of Stalin in 1953, consumer goods (group B goods) received more emphasis. For further details see consumer goods in the Soviet Union. In economics, capital goods refer to real products that are used in the production of other products but are not incorporated into the new product that is derived from the production of the older product. ... Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and of materials engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. ... Means of production (abbreviated MoP; German: Produktionsmittel), also called means of labour are the materials, tools and other instruments used by workers to make products. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Soviet industry was usually divided into two major categories. ...

One big problem which plagued the Soviet Union's centrally planned economy from the very beginning (possibly excluding the period of NEP), and especially from 1928 onwards, is the lack of the price signal which told the producers about the consumer's needs at any point in time. Since needs of consumers change constantly it's impossible to anticipate them years in advance which is necessary in a planned economy. See also NEP. In Norse mythology, Nep was the father of Nanna. ... A price signal is message sent to customers in the form of a price charged for a commodity; this usually indicates a message intended to produce a particular result. ... This box:      A planned economy is an economic system in which a single agency makes all decisions about the production and allocation of goods and services. ...

The result of this, was an economy plagued with constant shortages (defitsit дефицит) in most parts of the economy. For the producers, this meant that many factories, for example, would sit idle waiting for parts or raw materials to arrive because their suppliers, were not able function at their optimal level either, waiting for their suppliers, in turn. To at least partially alleviate these systemic problems, payments for such deliveries of raw materials or parts were frequently not made in rubbles but by barter. There are estimates that by 1980's there were already up to 200 different such "currencies" used by the barter system (cigarettes, tires, etc.) Barter is a type of trade that do not use any medium of exchange, in which goods or services are exchanged for other goods and/or services. ...

For the consumers, the problems which plagued factories and suppliers, resulted in severe shortages of many consumer goods and even basic staple food. Whenever these consumer goods would become available on the market, consumers routinely had to stand in long lines (queues) for the most desired consumer goods and even for such basic staple food as milk, meat, produce and comfortable clothing and shoes. This problem was even more severe outside of large urban centers. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Produce on display at La Boqueria market in Barcelona, Spain. ...

Drafting the five-year plans

Under Stalin's tutelage, a complex system of planning arrangements had developed since the introduction of the first five-year plan in 1928. Until the late-1980s and early-1990s, when economic reforms backed by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced significant changes in the traditional system (see Perestroika), the allocation of resources was directed by a planning apparatus rather than through the interplay of market forces. The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... The 1980s refers to the years of 1980 to 1989. ... For the band, see 1990s (band). ... Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachyov ( , IPA: , commonly written as Mikhail Gorbachev; born March 2, 1931) was the last leader of the Soviet Union, serving from 1985 until its collapse in 1991. ... Poster showing Mikhail Gorbachev, with the slogan perestroika Perestroika ( , Russian: IPA: ) is the Russian term (which passed into English) for the economic reforms introduced in June 1987 by the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. ... It has been suggested that Free market be merged into this article or section. ...

Timeframe

From the Stalin era through the late 1980s, the five-year plan integrated short-range planning into a longer timeframe. It delineated the chief thrust of the country's economic development and specified the way the economy could meet the desired goals of the Communist Party. Although the five-year plan was enacted into law, it contained a series of guidelines rather than a set of direct orders. The 1980s refers to the years of 1980 to 1989. ... Five-Year Plans or Piatiletkas (пятилетка) were a series of nation-wide centralized exercises in rapid economic development in the Soviet Union. ... The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Russian: Коммунисти́ческая Па́ртия Сове́тского Сою́за = КПСС) was the name used by the successors of the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party from 1952 to 1991, but the wording Communist Party was present in the partys name since 1918 when the Bolsheviks became the Russian...

Periods covered by the five-year plans coincided with those covered by the gatherings of the CPSU Party Congress. At each CPSU Congress, the party leadership presented the targets for the next five-year plan. Thus, each plan had the approval of the most authoritative body of the country's leading political institution. The Congress of the CPSU was the gathering of the delegates of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and its predecessors. ...

Guidelines for the plan

The Central Committee of the CPSU and, more specifically, its Politburo, set basic guidelines for planning. The Politburo determined the general direction of the economy via control figures (preliminary plan targets), major investment projects (capacity creation), and general economic policies. These guidelines were submitted as a report of the Central Committee to the Congress of the CPSU to be approved there. The Central Committee, abbreviated in Russian as ЦК, Tseka, was the highest body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). ... The Politburo (in Russian: Политбюро), known as the Presidium from 1952 to 1966, functioned as the central policymaking and governing body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. ... The Congress of the CPSU was the gathering of the delegates of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and its predecessors. ...

After the approval at the congress, the list of priorities for the five-year plan was processed by the Council of Ministers, which constituted the government of the USSR. The Council of Ministers was composed of industrial ministers, chairmen of various state committees, and chairmen of agencies with ministerial status. This committee stood at the apex of the vast economic administration, including the state planning apparatus, the industrial ministries, the trusts (the intermediate level between the ministries and the enterprises), and finally, the state enterprises. The Council of Ministers elaborated on Politburo plan targets and sent them to Gosplan, which gathered data on plan fulfillment. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Gosplan (Госпла́н) was the committee for economic planning in the Soviet Union. ...

Gosplan

Main article: Gosplan Gosplan (Госпла́н) was the committee for economic planning in the Soviet Union. ...

Combining the broad goals laid out by the Council of Ministers with data supplied by lower administrative levels regarding the current state of the economy, Gosplan worked out, through trial and error, a set of preliminary plan targets. Among more than twenty state committees, Gosplan headed the government's planning apparatus and was by far the most important agency in the economic administration. The task of planners was to balance resources and requirements to ensure that the necessary inputs were provided for the planned output. The planning apparatus alone was a vast organizational arrangement consisting of councils, commissions, governmental officials, specialists, etc. charged with executing and monitoring economic policy. Gosplan (Госпла́н) was the committee for economic planning in the Soviet Union. ...

The state planning agency was subdivided into its own industrial departments, such as coal, iron, and machine building. It also had summary departments such as finance, dealing with issues that crossed functional boundaries. With the exception of a brief experiment with regional planning during the Khrushchev era in the 1950s, Soviet planning was done on a sectoral basis rather than on a regional basis. The departments of the state planning agency aided the agency's development of a full set of plan targets along with input requirements, a process involving bargaining between the ministries and their superiors. Coal Coal (IPA: ) is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground by coal mining, either underground mining or open-pit mining (surface mining). ... General Name, Symbol, Number iron, Fe, 26 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 8, 4, d Appearance lustrous metallic with a grayish tinge Atomic mass 55. ... This article is about devices that perform tasks. ... Finance studies and addresses the ways in which individuals, businesses, and organizations raise, allocate, and use monetary resources over time, taking into account the risks entailed in their projects. ... Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (Russian: ; IPA: , in English, , or , occasionally ); surname more accurately romanized as Khrushchyov; April 17 [O.S. April 5] 1894–September 11, 1971) was the leader of the Soviet Union after the death of Joseph Stalin. ... // Recovering from World War II and its aftermath, the economic miracle emerged in West Germany and Italy. ...

Planning ministries

On Kalinin Prospekt, government buildings of the economic ministries in Moscow kept their lights on at night reading "CCCP," the Russian abbreviation of USSR.

Economic ministries performed key roles in the Soviet organizational structure. When the planning goals had been established by Gosplan, economic ministries drafted plans within their jurisdictions and disseminated planning data to the subordinate enterprises. This work is copyrighted. ... This work is copyrighted. ... Location Position of Moscow in Europe Government Country District Subdivision Russia Central Federal District Federal City Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov Geographical characteristics Area  - City 1,081 km² Population  - City (2007)    - Density 10,469,000   8537. ...

The planning data were sent downward through the planning hierarchy for progressively more detailed elaboration. The ministry received its control targets, which were then disaggregated by branches within the ministry, then by lower units, eventually until each enterprise received its own control figures (production targets).

Enterprises

Enterprises were called upon to develop the most detailed plans covering all aspects of their operations so that they could assess the feasibility of targets, thus opening up the most intense bargaining phase in the planning process. As the individual enterprise drafted its detailed production plans, the flow of information was reversed; enterprise managers and even rank-and-file workers often participated in the planning process at this level. According to Soviet reports, roughly 110 million Soviet workers took part in discussions in the final period of state planning in the late-1980s and early-1990s (even though such participation was mostly limited to a rubber-stamping of prepared statements during huge pre-staged meetings). The 1980s refers to the years of 1980 to 1989. ... For the band, see 1990s (band). ...

The enterprises' draft plans were then sent back up through the planning ministries for review. This process entailed intensive bargaining, with all parties seeking the target levels and input figures that best suited their interests.

Redrafting the plan

After this bargaining process, Gosplan received the revised estimates and re-aggregated them as it saw fit. Then, the redrafted plan was sent to the Council of Ministers and the Party's Politburo and Central Committee Secretariat for approval. The Council of Ministers submitted the Plan to the Supreme Soviet and the Central Committee submitted the plan to the Party Congress, both for rubber stamp approval. By this time, the process had been completed and the plan became law. The Supreme Soviet (Russian: , Verhovniy Sovet, literally the Supreme Council) comprised the highest legislative body in the Soviet Union in the interim of the sessions of the Congress of Soviets, and the only one with the power to pass constitutional amendments. ...

Approval of the plan

The review, revision, and approval of the five-year plan were followed by another downward flow of information, this time with the amended and final plans containing the specific targets for each sector of the economy. Implementation began at this point, and was largely the responsibility of enterprise managers.

Economic development

An assembly-line worker works on the axle of a Moskvich car, made by AZLK. Enterprises in the Soviet Union were more than just places of work; they were responsible for a broad range of social welfare functions—building and maintaining housing for their workforces, and managing health, recreational, educational, and similar facilities.

Starting in 1928, the five-year plans began building a heavy industrial base at once in an underdeveloped economy without waiting years for capital to accumulate through the expansion of light industry, and without reliance on external financing. The country now became industrialized at an unbelievable pace, perhaps surpassing Germany's pace of industrialization in the nineteenth century and Japan's earlier in the twentieth. After the reconstruction of the economy (in the wake of the destruction caused by the Russian Civil War) was completed, and after the initial plans of further industrialisation were fulfilled, the explosive growth slowed down, but still generally surpassed most of the other countries in terms of total material production (GNP) until the period of Brezhnev stagnation in the second half of the 1970s. This work is copyrighted. ... This work is copyrighted. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Moskvich vehicles Moskvitch 403IE (1962) Moskvitch (sometimes also mentioned as Moskvich or Moskwitch, which means Muscovite) is an automobile brand from Russia. ... AZLK (АЗЛК in Russian) is a Russian automobile factory (Moscow), the maker of the Moskvitch brand. ... Combatants Red Army (Bolsheviks) White Army (Monarchists, SRs, Anti-Communists) Green Army (Peasants and Nationalists) Black Army (Anarchists) Commanders Leon Trotsky Mikhail Tukhachevsky Semyon Budyonny Lavr Kornilov, Alexander Kolchak, Anton Denikin, Pyotr Wrangel Alexander Antonov, Nikifor Grigoriev Nestor Makhno Strength 5,427,273 (peak) +1,000,000 Casualties 939,755... // At the fourteenth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in December 1927, Stalin attacked the left by expelling Trotsky and his supporters from the party and then moving against the right by abandoning Lenins New Economic Policy which had been championed by Nikolai Bukharin and Alexei... Measures of national income and output are used in economics to estimate the value of goods and services produced in an economy. ... Leonid Brezhnev. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ...

Industrialization came with the extension of medical services, which improved labor productivity. Campaigns were carried out against typhus, cholera, and malaria; the number of physicians increased as rapidly as facilities and training would permit; and death and infant mortality rates steadily decreased. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Epidemic typhus. ... Cholera is a water-borne disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, which is typically ingested by drinking contaminated water, or by eating improperly cooked fish, especially shellfish. ... Malaria is a vector-borne infectious disease that is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions. ... The international levels of infant mortality, depicted as the number of deaths in a thousand births. ...

As weighed growth rates, economic planning performed very well during the early and mid-1930s, World War II-era mobilization, and for the first two decades of the postwar era. The Soviet Union became the world's leading producer of oil, coal, iron ore, and cement; manganese, gold, natural gas and other minerals were also of major importance. The 1930s (years from 1930-1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ... Combatants Allied Powers Axis Powers Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000,000 Total dead: 50,000,000 Military dead: 8,000,000 Civilian dead: 4,000,000 Total dead 12,000,000 World War II (abbreviated WWII), or the Second World War, was a worldwide conflict... Pumpjack pumping an oil well near Sarnia, Ontario Ignacy Łukasiewicz - inventor of the refining of kerosene from crude oil. ... Coal Coal (IPA: ) is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground by coal mining, either underground mining or open-pit mining (surface mining). ... This heap of iron ore pellets will be used in steel production. ... In the most general sense of the word, cement is a binder, a substance which sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. ... General Name, Symbol, Number manganese, Mn, 25 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 7, 4, d Appearance silvery metallic Atomic mass 54. ... General Name, Symbol, Number gold, Au, 79 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 6, d Appearance metallic yellow Atomic mass 196. ... Natural gas is a gaseous fossil fuel consisting primarily of methane. ... Minerals are natural compounds formed through geological processes. ...

Growth slowed after 1960, but this was considered characteristic of a mature, industrialized economy at the time. However, the planning ministries had failed to loosen their control of the enterprise level in time to stem the prolonged stagnation of the 1970s and 1980s, which showed signs of a chronic problem. 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... The 1980s refers to the years of 1980 to 1989. ...

The Soviet planned economy was not tailored at a sufficient pace to the demands of the more complex modern economy it had helped to forge. As the economy grew, the volume of decisions facing planners in Moscow became overwhelming. The cumbersome procedures for bureaucratic administration did not enable the free communication and flexible response required at the enterprise level for dealing with worker alienation, innovation, customers, and suppliers. Location Position of Moscow in Europe Government Country District Subdivision Russia Central Federal District Federal City Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov Geographical characteristics Area  - City 1,081 km² Population  - City (2007)    - Density 10,469,000   8537. ...

Calls for greater freedom for managers to deal directly with suppliers and customers were gaining influence among reform-minded Communist cadres during the mid-1970s and 1980s were largely ignored. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, all of the former Soviet republics scrapped their Soviet-era systems of centralized planning and state ownership, to varying degrees, with mixed results (see History of post-Soviet Russia). Motto: (German for Unity and Justice and Freedom”) Anthem: (3rd stanza) also called Capital Berlin istian Democratic Union (Germany) {{{official_languages}}} Government {{{government_type}}} Formation    - Holy Roman Empire 843 (Treaty of Verdun)   - Unification January 18, 1871   - Federal Republic May 23, 1949   - Reunification October 3, 1990  Accession to EU March 25, 1953 (West...

Gross Domestic Product of former Soviet republics now in the region of Caucasia. Note the dramatic decrease after the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Image File history File links GDP.jpg‎ I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Image File history File links GDP.jpg‎ I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... IMF 2005 figures of total GDP of nominal compared to PPP. Absolute, not adjusted for population. ... The Caucasus is a region in eastern Europe and western Asia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea which includes the Caucasus mountains and surrounding lowlands. ...

Agriculture

Main article: Agriculture of the Soviet Union. Agriculture in the Soviet Union was organized into a system of state and collective farms, known as sovkhozes and kolkhozes, respectively. ...

Agriculture was organized into a system of collective farms (kolkhozes) and state farms (sovkhozes). Organized on a large scale and highly mechanized, the Soviet Union was one of the world's leading producers of cereals, although bad harvests (as in 1972 and 1975) necessitated imports and slowed the economy. The 1976-1980 five-year plan shifted resources to agriculture, and 1978 saw a record harvest followed by another drop in overall production in 1979 and 1980 back to levels attained in 1975. Cotton, sugar beets, potatoes, and flax were also major crops. A kolkhoz (Russian: IPA: ), plural kolkhozy, was a form of collective farming in the Soviet Union that existed along with state farms (sovkhoz). ... A sovkhoz (Russian language: Совхоз, Советское хозяйство, sovetskoe khoziaistvo), typically translated as state farm, is a Soviet state-owned farm, in contrast with kolkhoz, which is a collective-owned... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... For the Smashing Pumpkins song, see 1979 (song). ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Cotton ready for harvest. ... Two sugar beets - the one on the left has been cultivated to be smoother than the traditional beet, so that it traps less soil. ... Binomial name Solanum tuberosum L. The potato (Solanum tuberosum) is a perennial plant of the Solanaceae, or nightshade, family, commonly grown for its starchy tuber. ... Binomial name Linum usitatissimum Linnaeus. ...

However, despite immense land resources, extensive machinery and chemical industries, and a large rural work force, Soviet agriculture was relatively unproductive, hampered in many areas by the climate (only 10 percent of the Soviet Union's land was arable), and poor worker productivity since the collectivization in the 1930s. Lack of transport infrastructure also caused much waste. In the Soviet Union, collectivisation was a policy introduced in the late 1920s, of consolidation of individual land and labour into co-operatives called collective farms (Russian: , kolkhoz) and state farms (Russian: , sovkhoz). ...

Foreign trade and currency

Main article: Foreign trade of the Soviet Union

Largely self-sufficient, the Soviet Union traded little in comparison to its economic strength. However, trade with noncommunist countries increased in the 1970s as the government sought to compensate gaps in domestic production with imports. Soviet foreign trade played only a minor role in the Soviet economy. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ...

In general, fuels, metals, and timber were exported. Machinery, consumer goods, and sometimes grain were imported. In the 1980s trade with the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) member states accounted for about half the country's volume of trade. Fuel is any material that is capable of releasing energy when its chemical or physical structure is changed or converted. ... Hot metal work from a blacksmith In chemistry, a metal (Greek: Metallon) is an element that readily forms positive ions (cations) and has metallic bonds. ... Timber in storage for later processing at a sawmill Timber is a term used to describe wood, either standing or that has been processed for use—from the time trees are felled, to its end product as a material suitable for industrial use—as structural material for construction or wood... A machine is any mechanical or electrical device that transmits or modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance of tasks. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... This article is about cereals in general. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... A Soviet propaganda poster reading COMECON: Unity of Goals, Unity of Action The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON / Comecon / CMEA / CEMA), 1949 – 1991, was an economic organisation of communist states and a kind of Eastern European equivalent to the European Economic Community. ...

The Soviet currency (ruble) was non-convertible after 1932 (when trade in gold-convertible "chervonets", introduced by Lenin in NEP years was suspended) until the late eighties. It was impossible (both for citizens and state-owned businesses) to freely buy or sell foreign currency even though the "exchange rate" was set and published regularly. Buying or selling foreign currency on a black market was a serious crime until the late eighties. Individuals who were paid from abroad (for example writers whose books were published abroad) normally had to spend their currency in a foreign-currency-only chain of state-owned "Beryozka" ("Birch-tree") stores. Once a free conversion of currency was allowed, the exchange rate plummeted from its official values by almost a factor of 10. Golden chervonets, 1976 Chervonets (or tchervonets, Russian: ) were the former currency of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. ...

Overall, the banking system was highly centralized and fully controlled by a single state-owned Gosbank, responsive to the fulfillment of the government's economic plans. Soviet banks furnished short-term credit to state-owned enterprises. Gosbank- Gosudarstvennyy bank--the State Bank The Gosbank was the central bank of the Soviet Union. ... Banker redirects here; see wiktionary:banker for more meanings. ...

Forms of property

There were two basic forms of property in the Soviet Union: individual property and collective property. These differed greatly in their content and legal status. According to communist theory, capital (means of production) could not be individually owned, with certain negligible exceptions. In particular, after the end of a short period of the New Economic Policy and with collectivization completed, all industrial property and virtually all land were collective. Means of production (abbreviated MoP; German: Produktionsmittel), also called means of labour are the materials, tools and other instruments used by workers to make products. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... In the Soviet Union, collectivisation was a policy introduced in the late 1920s, of consolidation of individual land and labour into co-operatives called collective farms (Russian: , kolkhoz) and state farms (Russian: , sovkhoz). ...

Land in rural areas was allotted for housing and some sustenance farming, and persons had certain rights to it, but it was not their property in full. In particular, in kolkhozes and sovkhozes there was a practice to rotate individual farming lots with collective lots. This resulted in situations where people would ameliorate, till and cultivate their lots carefully, adapting them to small-scale farming, and in 5-7 years those lots would be swapped for kolkhoz ones, typically with exhausted soil due to intensive, large-scale agriculture. There was an extremely small number of remaining individual farmsteads (khutors хутор), located in isolated rural areas in the Baltic states, Ukraine, Siberia and cossack lands. A kolkhoz (Russian: IPA: ), plural kolkhozy, was a form of collective farming in the Soviet Union that existed along with state farms (sovkhoz). ... A sovkhoz (Russian language: Совхоз, Советское хозяйство, sovetskoe khoziaistvo), typically translated as state farm, is a Soviet state-owned farm, in contrast with kolkhoz, which is a collective-owned... Land improvement or land amelioration is making land more usable by humans. ... Bales of hay on a farm near Ames, Iowa A farm is the basic unit in agriculture. ... Khutor or hutor (Russian: ; Ukrainian: , Khutir) was usually a single-homestead rural settlement (farmstead) in Ukraine, Russia, and some parts of Central Asia. ... Baltic states and the Baltic Sea The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a term which refers to three countries in Northern Europe: Estonia Latvia Lithuania Prior to World War II, Finland was sometimes considered a fourth Baltic state. ... Siberian Federal District (darker red) and the broadest definition of Siberia (red) arctic northeast Siberia Udachnaya pipe Siberia (Russian: , Sibir; Tatar: ) is a vast region of Russia constituting almost all of Northern Asia and comprising a large part of the Euro-Asian Steppe. ... Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks to Sultan Mehmed IV of Ottoman Empire. ...

Individual property

To distinguish "capitalist" and "socialist" types of property ownership further, two different forms of individual property were recognized: private property (частная собственность, chastnaya sobstvennost) and personal property (личная собственность, lichnaya sobstvennost). The former encompassed capital (means of production), while the latter described everything else in a person's possession. This distinction has been a source of confusion when interpreting phrases such as "socialism (communism) abolished private property"; one might conclude that all individual property was abolished, when this was in fact not the case.

Collective property

There were several forms of collective ownership, the most significant being state property, kolkhoz property, and cooperative property.

The most common forms of cooperative property were housing cooperatives (жилищные кооперативы) in urban areas, consumer cooperatives (потребительская кооперация, потребкооперация), and rural consumer societies (сельские потребительские общества, сельпо).

Further reading

• Paul Gregory and Robert Stuart, Soviet and Post Soviet Economic Structure and Performance 7th edition (Boston: Addison Wesley, 2001).
• Marshall Goldman, What Went Wrong With Perestroika (New York: Norton, 1991).
• Marshall Goldman, Lost Opportunity: Why Economic Reforms in Russia Have Not Worked (New York: W. W. Norton, 1994).
• Moshe Lewin, The Making of the Soviet System (New Press, 1994)
• Mary McCauley, Soviet Politics 1917-1991 (Oxford University Press, 1992).

See also

• Economy of post-Soviet Russia
• History of the Soviet Union
• History of post-Soviet Russia
• Enterprises in the Soviet Union

The economy of Russia experienced a dramatic transformation in the 1990s. ... The History of the Soviet Union begins with the Russian Revolution of 1917. ... Motto: (German for Unity and Justice and Freedom”) Anthem: (3rd stanza) also called Capital Berlin istian Democratic Union (Germany) {{{official_languages}}} Government {{{government_type}}} Formation    - Holy Roman Empire 843 (Treaty of Verdun)   - Unification January 18, 1871   - Federal Republic May 23, 1949   - Reunification October 3, 1990  Accession to EU March 25, 1953 (West... Enterprises in the Soviet Union were legal entities engaged in some kind of economic activity: production, distribution, services, and other kinds of works. ...

References

• Soviet Civilization: from the great victory till our time, S. Kara-Murza, 2004.
• The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, Paul Kennedy, Random House, New York, 1987.

Sergey Georgyevich Kara-Murza Sergey Georgyevich Kara-Murza (Russian: Сеpгей Геоpгиевич Каpа-Муpза) (born January 23, 1939), Soviet and Russian chemist, historian, political philosopher and sociologist. ... Paul Kennedy can refer to: Paul Kennedy a professor of history at Yale University who is known for his study of the history of international relations. ...

External links

• The Socialist Calculation Debate Revisited by Murray Rothbard
• Douglas B. Reynolds, "Soviet Economic Decline: Did an Oil Crisis Cause the Transition in the Soviet Union?"
• Rafael Reuveny and Aseem Prakash, "The Afghanistan war and the breakdown of the Soviet Union," Review of International Studies, 25 (1999), 25, 693-708.
• Andre Gunder Frank, "What Went Wrong in the 'Socialist' East?"
• "The five year plan and its effect on famine in Ukraine."