Struggle Against Private Entrepreneurship in Enterprises of Craft and Consumer Cooperatives of Bashkortostan (1946–1950)

Abstract

This study examines the activities of the senior inspectorate of the Main Administration for Craft and Consumer Cooperatives (Glavkoop) under the Council of Ministers of the USSR, aimed at identifying and eliminating private entrepreneurship within cooperative enterprises in Bashkortostan from 1946 to 1950. The research is based on previously unpublished documents from the Russian State Archive of Economics. The findings reveal that the operation of cooperative enterprises, devoid of developed market relations and private initiative, was fraught with numerous challenges. It is noted that residents of the republic frequently turned to private entrepreneurs due to the high production costs and low quality of goods produced by craft cooperatives. Furthermore, it was discovered that cooperative organizations often resorted to hiring private accountants and construction brigades. Additionally, private agents were engaged in the procurement of goods from major cities across the Soviet Union for the consumer cooperative system. The study demonstrates that private entrepreneurs played a significant role in the transportation of goods and the export of harvested products from remote areas of the republic. The conclusion drawn is that the struggle against private entrepreneurial activity in Bashkortostan's cooperatives led to the cessation of official contractual relationships with private entrepreneurs and a slight reduction in the shadow economy sector.

Keywords

• craft cooperation
• consumer cooperation
• private entrepreneurship
• trade
• planned economy
• glavkoop
• bashkortostan