The role of transportation in the development of the goods turnover for organizations of state-operated and cooperative trade in Bashkiria in the 1930s

The given article analyses the work of transportation departments of trading organizations in Bashkiria in the 1930s. It looks into the role of automotive and horse-drawn transport used by state-operated trading organizations and consumer cooperation in supplying the retail network of the republic with foodstuffs and manufactured goods. The growth of transportation capacity of trading organizations lagged significantly behind both the overall growth of the goods turnover and the expansion rate of the retail network. On the basis of the archived documents researched it makes the conclusion that despite the significant increase in the number of cars, the systemic problems persisted in the transportation sphere of trading organizations of the republic. The work of transport was hampered, on the one hand, by the lack of roads and petrol stations; on the other hand, there was persistent shortage of equipment, horses fuel and lubricants. Besides, trading organizations of Bashkiria did not have their own repairs facilities, which led to the increase of downtime for transport. Consequently, the development of transportation system for trading organizations in Bashkiria in the 1930s was mostly extensive, with only minimal qualitative changes. The problems the given article discloses led to frequent shortages in trade in remoted areas of the republic.