Consumer cooperation in Bashkiria during the monetary reform of 1947

The paper deals with the development of consumer cooperation in Bashkiria in the post-war years. Based on documents of the National Archive of the Republic of Bashkortostan, which had never been subjected to scientific scrutiny, the study traces the growth of sales, spreading the trading network and storage facilities of consumer cooperation in the period immediately before the monetary reform of 1947. In the post-war period, consumer cooperation in Bashkiria showed considerable achievements. On the one hand, commodity weight rose significantly with the simultaneous expansion and complication of the trading network. On the other hand, the assortment of foodstuffs and manufactured goods was expanding, which was a prerequisite for the transition from rationing to open trade. However, the research disclosed some significant flaws in the work of consumer societies in the Republic. Accounting and statistical documents of Bashkir Union contain information about great damage from embezzlements and thefts as well as a large number of the principles of Soviet trade violations. Cooperation and share accumulation were not fully followed, which negatively affected the financial state of consumer cooperatives. On all levels of consumer cooperation in the Republic, there was a lack of qualified staff. Due to this, buying and producing operations of some regional consumer cooperation unions lead to an increase in the amount of low-demand, old-stock goods in the trading network, and often to material losses. Those many problems in the work of consumer cooperation led to the insufficient satisfaction of demands for both food stocks and manufactured goods. This, in turn, affected the welfare of city and country people in Bashkiria.