There was a shadow economy both under Stalin and under Andropov
Bribes in the USSR were always taken and given.
And they also worked "to the left", were engaged in postscripts. They say this was not the case under Stalin. But no. And how the shadow economy flourished after Khrushchev's "thaw" and even under Andropov, who fought it mercilessly …
Stalin Stadium - predecessor of the St. Petersburg Arena.
State embezzlement, bribery (taking a bribe for legal actions) and covetousness (for illegal actions) - such terms were used in the Russian Empire. With the advent of the new government, only the names have changed. The first post-revolutionary Criminal Code of the RSFSR in 1922 already spoke of a bribe. For her one could get up to five years in prison with confiscation. Punishments over the years became more and more severe - up to the death penalty, but this did not stop the corrupt officials.
For example, even before the war in Moscow, they wanted to build a grandiose Stalin stadium. 20 million rubles were allocated for its construction. But, according to Naftali Frenkel, who supervised the work of the Chekist and professional builder, less than half were used for their intended purpose. The rest of the funds dissolved. The construction was stopped, hiding behind the outbreak of the war with Finland. And, surprisingly, no one was condemned. History is very reminiscent of the construction of the "St. Petersburg Arena" today.
After Stalin's death, the firm punitive hand weakened, and "theft" grew, becoming more widespread: workers pulled materials from factories, drivers - gasoline from departmental cars, peasants - feed for domestic animals. The shadow economy of the USSR attracted more and more people and covered more and more spheres of life.
Promotional video:
Five high-profile corruption cases of the Soviet Union
Azerbaijan case
1969 year. The head of the KGB Yuri Andropov succeeded in replacing the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Azerbaijan SSR, Veli Akhundov. He was replaced by the chairman of the republican KGB Heydar Aliyev. Massive purges in the state apparatus began.
Veli Akhundov.
Investigations showed that job trade flourished in the republic. It was possible to become the first secretary of the district party committee for 200 thousand rubles, the second - for 100 thousand, the minister - for 120-150 thousand, the rector of the university - for 100-200 thousand, the head of the district police department - for 50 thousand, the district prosecutor - for 30 thousand rubles.
Caviar business
1979-1981 years. Initially, the prosecutor's office became interested in two "fishmongers" - the general director of the company "Ocean" Feldman and the director of the Sochi store "Ocean" Fishman. Both took large sums of money out of the country and sent them abroad to the accounts of foreign banks.
In the course of the investigation, the threads quickly reached the USSR Ministry of Fisheries. And as a result, a large-scale scheme of illegal enrichment was exposed: black caviar was exported to the West in jars for herring. It was about millions of rubles.
This case has drawn a chain of others. As a result, more than 5,000 officials were dismissed in the country, and about 1,500 were convicted. Deputy Minister of Fisheries Vladimir Rytov, who was recognized as the main organizer of the black schemes, was shot. At his house, 300 thousand rubles were found.
Shchelokov with his wife.
His boss, Minister Alexander Ishkov, thanks to the intercession of Secretary General Brezhnev, escaped punishment and only retired.
The case of the "Eliseevsky store"
1982-1984 years. As soon as Yuri Andropov came to power in the USSR, the KGB, which he had previously headed, took over the shops of Vneshposyltorg "Berezka". They detained the director of the Moscow "Beryozka" Viktor Avilov and his wife, who was the deputy director of "Eliseevsky" in Moscow, Yuri Sokolov. Soon they came for him. During a search at Sokolov's dacha, they found 50 thousand rubles. He tried to cooperate with the investigation. At the trial I read out lists of accomplices, the amount of bribes. But nothing helped. He was shot.
However, the investigation continued. After Sokolov's testimony, more than a hundred criminal cases were initiated against trade workers, including the head of GlavMostorg, Nikolai Tregubov. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Cotton business
Perhaps the largest investigation of Soviet corruption. They have been engaged in it for 10 years. About 800 criminal cases were initiated, 4000 bribe takers of various levels were convicted.
This case is also called "Uzbek", because it was conducted in the Uzbek SSR. Since the 1950s, the main business in the republic has been cotton growing. But, according to the papers, it was mined as much as it was physically impossible to get. Bribes and registrations were used. And this became the basis of the investigation. It began in the mid-1970s, but the main revelations began after the death in 1983 of the head of the republic, Sharaf Rashidov.
A special group was created under the Central Committee of the CPSU to investigate the "cotton case". It was headed by Telman Gdlyan and Nikolai Ivanov. Later, they themselves were accused of unethical working methods.
Yuri Churbanov and Galina Brezhneva.
In this case, the head of the OBKHSS of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Bukhara Regional Executive Committee, Akhat Muzafarov, who was found in possession of money and valuables worth 1.5 million rubles, was sentenced to death, like the former Minister of the Cotton Industry of Uzbekistan Usmanov, senior officials of the republic received serious sentences, as well as Brezhnev's son-in-law Yuri Churbanov.
"Octopus" in Soviet style
According to the estimates of the Soviet economist Tatyana Koryagina and the director of the State Planning Research Institute Valery Rutgeizer, in 1960, the shadow economy accounted for 3.4 percent of the gross national product, in 1988 - already 20 percent. On the whole, the economy grew 3.6 times, the shadow economy grew 14! At the beginning of the 1960s, 6 million Soviet citizens participated in the shadow economy, and by the end of the 1980s already 30 million - 12 percent of the country's population.
Prepared by Elena Ozhegova