Trade—Foreign and Domestic

This chapter attempts to centralize the production and distribution of consumers' goods and to socialize trade—Foreign and Domestic, the Soviet authorities overlooked the importance of the artisan and small tradesman in the rural communities. The nature and volume of Soviet foreign trade has been determined by the program of industrialization. Foreign trade is a government monopoly and is under the supervision of the Commissariat of Foreign Trade. Foreign trade is financed through the State Bank, which clears credits and debits between the import and export organizations and in turn between them and the trusts and co-operatives which supply the exports or use the imports. Domestic trade is carried on primarily through three agencies namely: state trading organizations, co-operatives, and private traders. Membership in the consumers' co-operatives was expected to reach 70 millions in 1931, with a trade turnover of about 15 billion rubles. They represent the principal organization of the socialized sector of Soviet domestic trade.