100 years ago, on May 8, 1918, the first decree of the Council of People's Commissars was signed, formalizing the fight against bribery. According to him, they were given at least 5 years, and in the Criminal Code of 1922 a firing clause appeared. Moreover, it was actively used not only in the harsh Stalinist years, but also in more “vegetarian” times.
Judges were planted in packs
If we talk about the post-war period, then the case of corruption in the judiciary, which began in 1948, received a great response. Numerous facts of “bribery, merging with criminal elements and issuing unjust sentences” in the courts of Moscow, Kiev, Krasnodar and Ufa were revealed in a series of closed trials . USSR Prosecutor General G. Safonov reported that 111 people were arrested in Moscow alone. Even went to the cell Chairman of the Moscow City Court A. Vasnev. The main organizer of the system of bribes in the Supreme Court of the USSR was recognized Deputy Chairman of the Armed Forces A. Solodilov. By the way, he had a weakness for women and often took "in kind". And at the expense of the defendants, trade workers, he managed a dacha for himself. When he realized that the matter would not end with one suspension from work, he chose to shoot himself. In total, by the end of 1952, 58 former employees of the USSR Armed Forces were convicted.
One of the loudest Khrushchev became the case of "underground knitwear" - with its help, the authorities tried to scare all the "shadow business". The arrests began in April 1961, in total, 700 people ended up behind bars, from whom ... 2 billion rubles were confiscated during searches. (200 million in 1961 money)! 28 people were sentenced to death, five of them were later pardoned.
In the 1960s, a "group of robbers" led by director of the department store "Moscow" Maria Korshilova. Investigators found out that in 5 years she stole state property for 2.5 million rubles. It was a "shooting" amount. But thanks to the patronage of the notorious Furtseva Korshilova got out and even soon after the trial headed another large store in Moscow. But her two accomplices, who were not lucky enough to acquire influential acquaintances, were shot.
traded positions
In 1969, the "Azerbaijani affair" broke out. Then the power was changed in this republic, and the revealed level of corruption amazed even experienced investigators. It was possible to prove that large sums of money flowing in the form of bribes to the republican Central Committee of the party and personally into the hands of 1st Secretary Akhundov, went abroad and settled on foreign accounts. True, no one knew the word "offshore" then.
At the same time, they found out that trade in party posts flourished in the republic. After coming to power Heydar Aliyev at a closed meeting of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan announced prices. The position of the 1st secretary of the district committee cost 200 thousand, the 2nd secretary - 100 thousand, the minister of public utilities - 150 thousand, the minister of social security - 120 thousand, the rector of the university - 100-200 thousand, the head of the police department - 50 thousand, a district prosecutor - 30 thousand, etc. The average salary in the USSR then was just over 100 rubles.
However, for the capital's bureaucrats, the sale of positions was not news. Back in the late 1940s, the Mosminvodtorg case was heard. To get a job as a salesman in a pavilion where they sold beer on tap, one had to pay a bribe of 15,000 rubles. The place of the head of the pavilion cost 2 times more. The seller “beat off” the bribe on underfilling, unfastened the “roof” in the police from him. Then he was arrested trading director Fedunov, but grateful patrons from the secretariat of the Presidium of the Supreme Council did not leave a comrade in trouble. Fedunov was pardoned and released.
And in the early 1980s, they found out that they were selling not only positions and not only in Azerbaijan. In 1982 First Secretary of the Khorezm Regional Committee of the Khudaibergen Party in a statement addressed to the Prosecutor General of the USSR, he spoke about the fact of giving them a bribe First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan Sh. Rashidov in the amount of 1.5 million rubles. (!) for the promise to confer the title of Hero of Socialist Labor. BUT Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the Uzbek SSR Kakhramanov during interrogations, he could not explain in any way how he, who was born in 1940, managed to receive medals for participation in the Great Patriotic War and the defense of Khalkhin Gol.
Ministers were also caught
In 1978, the high-profile Okean case broke out, as a result of which many party leaders were imprisoned in the Krasnodar Territory. Deputy Head of the Ministry of Fisheries V. Rytov was sentenced to death, and Minister A. Ishkov forced to return 260 thousand rubles to the treasury. proven bribes and retired. He stood up for him Brezhnev.
In Georgia, the prosecutor's office arrested the secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the republic. In general, in the USSR, this republic was considered the "homeland of millionaires." There flourished guilds and corrupt officials of all stripes. Sometime in the early 1970s, at one of the meetings head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR N. Shchelokov reproached Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic E. Shevardnadze that half of his traffic cops are engaged in requisitions. Shevardnadze returned to the republic, put on simpler clothes, got behind the wheel of a Moskvich and drove around Tbilisi. The result was shocking: not 50% of the traffic police officers, but all 100% took bribes! In 1972, Shevardnadze became the first secretary of the Georgian Central Committee and soon began purges. In just 5 years, more than 30 thousand people were arrested, 40 thousand officials were fired.
It is impossible not to recall the case of Shchelokov himself, who headed the Ministry of Internal Affairs in 1968-1982. According to the investigation, the minister took everything: from Mercedes, donated by the German government for the Olympics-80, to cribs. He kept paintings by famous Russian masters under his bed - there was not enough space on the walls. The case did not reach the court - Shchelokov shot himself.
Perhaps the most ambitious in the USSR was the Uzbek "cotton business". The investigation began in the 1970s and ended in 1989. A total of 800 cases of bribery and embezzlement were initiated, 4 thousand people were convicted. But in 1991 I. Karimov, having become the president of Uzbekistan, he pardoned all those convicted in this case, who were serving sentences on the territory of the republic.
The scandalous film of the oppositionist Navalny again exposed the problem of corruption in our country. Our society began to get used to high-profile anti-corruption revelations: high-ranking officials, law enforcement officers, mayors, governors - it seemed that nothing could surprise Russian citizens anymore. Everything changed after a man from the top ten high-ranking officials, Minister of Economic Development A. Ulyukaev, sat in the dock. Perhaps this was the pinnacle of the fight against corruption. But Navalny swung even higher: at the prime minister and the president. The history of revelations of the first persons of the state is not uncommon in world practice: the recent events in France, South Korea, and Argentina make it clear that even heads of state are "dishonest".
The problem of corruption in Russia has always existed. History has recorded a conversation between Peter the Great and Alexander Menshikov, the emperor's most faithful friend and comrade-in-arms. The reformer suggested that the second person in the state introduce the death penalty for corruption, but Menshikov bluntly stated that there would be no subjects left in the country. Subsequently, historians have established that the former groom himself was involved in grandiose corruption schemes.
It is believed that there was no corruption in the USSR. Many communists, patriots who call for the introduction of the death penalty for embezzlement, and other people who have not delved into the study of this problem like to emphasize this. In the article we will try to answer the question: "Was there corruption in the USSR?" And we will start the story from the Stalin era, since many believe that it was Joseph Vissarionovich who was able to defeat the propensity of citizens to bribery.
The fight against corruption in the USSR under Stalin
Stalin fought both internal political enemies and corruption. I would like to immediately dispel the myth: embezzlers were not put up against the wall for “three ears of wheat stolen from the field,” as today many of the liberal and anti-Stalinist wing of historians like to say. Of course, excesses were everywhere, and during the Great Patriotic War they were judged to the fullest extent of wartime. However, after the war, Stalin completely banned the death penalty.
There was corruption in the USSR, but there was no total execution for it, as many people think. Only in 1950 did they again decide to introduce execution, but only for espionage, intelligence and anti-Soviet activities. For economic crimes, they were not sentenced to the highest measure.
How did they fight corruption in the USSR during the Stalin period? Harsh measures: the perpetrators received 15 or even 20-25 years in the camps for such crimes. Many of them were amnestied after the death of the leader, in 1953.
Features of corruption in the USSR under Stalin
Corruption in the USSR did not consist in multimillion-dollar bribes, transfers to foreign offshores, various kickbacks, but in the use of a high official position. Nepotism and family ties with high-ranking officials are the main problem that destroyed the socialist state. We must pay tribute to Stalin: he did not cover up manifestations of corruption even among his inner circle. Even his favorite - G.K. Zhukov - came to the attention of government agencies to combat "plunderers of socialist property." The famous marshal was accused of fraud in the delivery of military trophies. His divisions were the first to liberate Europe, he commanded the assault on Berlin. All valuable trophies first fell into his hands.
Zhukov, of course, was not punished to the fullest extent of Soviet law, but his reputation was seriously shaken after the war. This also affected the service: Zhukov went down the party ladder, although many attribute this to Stalin's fear of "people's love" for Zhukov.
Leningrad case
In 1949, the so-called Leningrad case took place. Liberals and anti-Stalinists consider it political: they say, the "bloody dictator" again took up the old ways, began the fight against political opponents. However, many declassified documents showed that the reason for the "Leningrad case" was corruption in the USSR.
The Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR Rodionov M.I., with the assistance of a member of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, A.A. Kuznetsov, together with high party officials of Leningrad, organized an agricultural fair. The problem was that the goods for it came from a nationwide fund to support other regions. In fact, at the fair they sold goods worth 9 billion rubles, which were supposed to go as help to a devastated country. The amount is simply astronomical for this period. However, this is not all: the goods were damaged in the amount of 4 billion rubles due to the poor organization of the fair. But that's not all: from all over the USSR, a congress of all leading political workers was organized at the expense of the state. And all this happened in the conditions of colossal devastation and famine of the post-war period.
"Leningrad case" revealed a conspiracy?
The unraveling of the "Leningrad case" showed that A. A. Kuznetsov tried to place his people everywhere. Principle: "You - to me, I - to you." In the Decree of the Plenum of the Central Committee of the Party on this case, even a special term appeared - "gangsterism".
In the course of identifying all the persons associated with this case, it was found that in fact the entire network of "their" people tried to create a new party - the RCP, and separate the republic of the RSFSR from the USSR. Of course, we will omit such details, as this is not relevant to our topic, but let's say: the famous case was started as a fight against fraud among top party leaders. Many defendants in this case received 25 years in the camps for "anti-Soviet activities."
"The Case of the Weavers"
The "case of weavers" is also anti-corruption. After the war, the country experienced a huge shortage of goods. Particularly "smart" guessed: you can make good money on this. It all started with the head of the interregional office for the distribution of materials for overalls N. Tavshunsky. He unexpectedly noticed that after the war, women were significantly "thinner", but the norms were not. Tavshunsky gave bribes to many heads of various offices, and they turned a blind eye to the fact that overalls were too small. From the stolen material, civilian clothes were sewn, which were instantly sold out. Estimated damage - 215 thousand rubles. Almost all crooks and bribe-takers received a long sentence and cursed Stalin's "bloody regime" until the end of their days, although not a single person was shot in this case.
"Bread business"
Khlebnoe delo is the biggest corruption scam of the Stalinist regime. It got its name due to the fact that the entire criminal group worked in Rosglavkhleb. It was led by the head of the supply department M. Isaev. Corruption was manifested in the fact that, using bribes, bribery, gifts, the gang actually bought scarce goods from various factories.
For example, Isaev got sugar from a confectionery factory, wine, alcohol, and other materials from a winery. With large volumes, it was impossible to track compliance with GOST. In fact, there was less sugar in confectionery, less alcohol in vodka, etc. It was unrealistic to buy it in stores. Banda Isaev has created a virtual "black market". And all this in the most hungry time for the country. The damage to the state was caused by almost 1.5 million rubles. The bandits stole 450 kg of butter, more than 2.5 tons of marmalade, almost 9 tons of flour, etc. Of course, there is no comparison with today's scale of corrupt officials, but do not forget that people at that time ate rotten potatoes and roots, sawdust was added to bread.
Corruption of the post-Stalin era
After Stalin, the level of corruption in the USSR was not just high, but prohibitively high. The country was divided into spheres of influence on the distribution of scarce goods. From the late 1960s to the late 1980s. a complex corruption system of clan checks and balances has developed. The national party leaders have completely merged into schemes for the distribution of the deficit. It was then that the principle was finally formed: "everyone has money, but nothing can be bought with it." In fact, it lasted until the "shock therapy" of the democratic government of Ye. Gaidar, when it was replaced by another: "you can buy everything, but there is no money."
Until the mid 1960s. in fact, there was no anti-corruption system in the USSR. On the contrary, the central authorities used this tool to maintain loyalty and obedience. At any moment it was possible to start an anti-corruption case against the exploded satrap of some republic. In turn, the head of the region could also use this tool against subordinates. Scarcity has become an instrument of income, and nepotism and bribery have become an instrument of loyalty. Under such a system, there was no punishment for corruption in the USSR.
Of course, there were also high-profile anti-corruption processes: the case of Nikolai Shchelokov (Minister of Internal Affairs from 1968-1982), the Okean case against the Deputy Minister of Fisheries of the USSR, the Cotton Case against the head of the OBKhSS Department of Internal Affairs of the Bukhara Regional Executive Committee Muzaffarov, etc. However, similar processes resemble, rather, the removal of objectionable people, rather than real processes to combat corruption. We observed something similar quite recently: the case against the Minister of Economic Development Ulyukayev.
Azerbaijani precedent
Counteraction to corruption in the USSR, or rather its attempts, was undertaken by L. I. Brezhnev. He noticed a dangerous trend: the national party elites had grown together in gray corruption schemes with local commercial and industrial circles to such an extent that it began to threaten the collapse of the Union. Any new representative of power in the republics was either blocked by the local elite or merged with it.
To combat the clan system in Azerbaijan, a new head of the republic's KGB, Heydar Aliyev, was sent. Nobody knew the new man by sight. This gave Aliyev the opportunity to see with his own eyes the real state of affairs. About 40 people were arrested during the raid. After that, many scarce goods appeared in stores at normal prices, food stocks were empty. However, the success was short-lived: two months later the whole republic knew the head of the KGB by sight, and new sorties turned out to be hopeless. Aliyev also laid bare the grandiose problem of the USSR: any position could be bought with money. Absolutely everything was sold: the positions of the 1st secretary of the district committee of the party, the prosecutor, the head of the police department, republican ministers, rectors of universities, etc.
Results
Corruption is a real evil in our society, which must be fought. However, the history of our state shows that this problem has existed at all times. Even harsh Stalinist measures did not stop people from taking bribes and using their official position. We hope that sooner or later we will be able to deal with this problem.
Even the most staunch supporters of the revival of the Soviet Union agree that the USSR approached the 1980s in far from the best shape. The need for reforms - and reforms not cosmetic, but deep, cardinal - was quite obvious.
Gorbachev made a strategic mistake: he entrusted the implementation of reforms to our enemies, the Americans, who went out of their way to such an extent that in 1991 the Soviet Union ceased to exist, and in the late nineties Russia almost followed his path.
Could the reforms be carried out differently: so as to save the USSR and not to plunge the country into the devastation of the nineties? Perhaps yes. The experience of our ally China shows that the Soviet Union also had normal paths of development. At the same time, now, more than twenty years after the collapse of the USSR, I regularly hear about the Soviet Union as a fabulous country in which there was no poverty and crime, in which apartments were given out free of charge to all those in need, in which there was an excellent education, and where there was no corruption at all.
This is not good. Firstly, such myths are actively used by the singers of the revolution. Say, let's go again with burning tires to the Winter Palace, establish people's power and live like in a fairy tale.
We will not live, for a number of reasons. There is a persistent myth according to which Stalin took Russia with a plow and left it with an atomic bomb. According to the second part of this myth, now, on the contrary, nothing is being built. As communists and liberals sing in unison, over the past 15 years not a single plant has allegedly been built.
Stubborn figures, however, say that Russia is now developing faster than during Stalin's five-year plans. You can compare yourself how many factories were built under Stalin and how many were built, for example, after 2000:
However, today I want to talk specifically about corruption. Was there corruption in the USSR?
Let's look at several types of corrupt relations common in the USSR.
1. Shops. Corruption in trade was widespread. The need to establish corrupt ties even for the purchase of such an elementary product as meat has become a joke. While essential goods could be bought in a regular store until the very end of perestroika, a huge group of "scarce" goods could only be obtained with the help of a bribe or "blat" - the most popular form of Soviet corruption.
2. Catering. Cafes, restaurants, canteens and so on were, again, corrupt to the core. One taxi driver told me how he and his friends organized a beer bar in the eighties. While beer was usually stolen by diluting it with water, the managers of this bar came up with a different scheme. They used their own money to buy good undiluted beer from brewer drivers, and then sold the "extra" beer at a retail price to customers.
Due to this, they always had a huge flow of visitors for undiluted beer, from which they made good money. Of course, this money was unfastened to the authorities: in the city committee or whoever there in those years oversaw such catering establishments.
Please note: such a scheme was only possible due to widespread corruption. Due to the fact that it was difficult to find undiluted beer in the city, and due to the fact that brewer drivers were always ready to dilute the beer right in the barrel in order to sell the resulting surplus “to the left”.
3. Taxis, car services, gas stations, spare parts stores ... everything that was connected with cars brought a lot of money to corrupt officials sitting on this topic. By the way, it was also often possible to buy a car only for a bribe. An alternative to a bribe was sometimes the need to stand in line at the trade union committee for five or six years, so there were no problems with those who wanted to reduce the waiting time for a bribe.
In general, one can list for a long time the segments of the Soviet economy that were completely or almost completely affected by corruption. The standard bribe in the form of a bottle of vodka or a medium-denomination banknote was so common that it was not even considered something bad: for many, it was like leaving a tip to a waiter in a restaurant today.
Of course, there were people in the USSR who lived without bribes. However, these people had to, as a retribution for their "inability to live", constantly do without scarce things and services, and also spend a huge amount of time on all sorts of queues.
I also note that parents rarely devoted their children to the opposite side of Soviet life: therefore, even citizens born in the USSR often do not suspect how many small bribes their parents distributed every month so that there was always meat in the refrigerator, normal clothes in the closet, and so on.
Until now, it was about corruption at the "grassroots" level - when a plumber from the ZhEK gave a bribe to a butcher, and the next day the butcher gave a bribe to a plumber. However, corruption at higher levels was no less prevalent.
Typical story. The factory produced a batch of defective products. TVs or maybe inflatable boats - it doesn't matter. If this happened now, this batch of defective junk would be immediately thrown away, or maybe it would be merged for recycling at some penny price.
This was not the case in the Soviet Union. Instead, they established corrupt ties with the party that was supposed to receive the goods and ... handed it over as a worker.
The receiving party turned a blind eye to defects for bribes.
The scheme was so widespread that goods of normal quality in the USSR still needed to be looked for. A house with crooked walls and crumbling plaster, a car not starting, obviously non-working equipment for the enterprise - any problems could be masked by organizing a chic booze for the host committee and a little corrupt stimulation of its members.
Of course, a bribe could not be given always and not everywhere. So, for example, military products were more or less monitored: as well as export goods. However, it was customary to bypass the usual quality control by oiling the controllers - and because of this, the quality of Soviet goods was often extremely low.
As an end, one more number. The provision of the main products of the RSFSR in 1990 was 183%, by 2000 it had decreased to 108%, and by 2011 it had recovered to the level of 150%:
We are not talking about kiwi and mango here, we are talking about basic products: grains, potatoes, vegetables, meat, milk and eggs.
Why, in Soviet times, such elementary products as meat or sausage were produced in huge quantities, but far from always reaching the store shelves?
Because the food distribution system in the Soviet Union was corrupt to the core. On the way from the producer to the buyer, products were stolen, diluted, lost and hidden - but all losses were written off using corruption schemes in such a way that everything was clean on paper.
Let me summarize
The Soviet Union, without a doubt, was a great country, a worthy reincarnation of the Russian Empire. We certainly should be proud of our Soviet past and strive to restore the USSR in its modern form.
At the same time, there is no point in restoring those critical shortcomings that became one of the reasons for the collapse of the Soviet superpower. In particular, it must be admitted that the Soviet methods of fighting corruption were completely ineffective. In this particular area, it would be wiser for us not to repeat the mistakes of the past, but to learn from the experience of other countries of suitable size.
update. Corruption in the USSR was a systemic problem. The depth of penetration of corruption into the state structures of the USSR can be judged, for example, by these two series of criminal cases.
In modern society, combating corruption is one of the main tasks of the authorities. At least on paper. The media daily report on the success of the fight against bribe-takers and fraudsters. However, Ostap Bendery in bureaucratic chairs will not be transferred to Russia in any way. The problem of embezzlement is as old as the world. In any case, our project “History of Corruption”, which includes essays on corruption scandals back in Tsarist Russia, is another confirmation of this.
However, all ears buzzed about the problems of tsarism over the past 80 years. But what about the anti-corruption activities in the Soviet Union? It turns out that even where “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs”, the problem of using official powers for personal purposes has not been resolved. Although, as was often the case, the authorities did not seek to share "dirty linen" with ordinary residents. Meanwhile, the first decree of the Council of People's Commissars, formalizing the fight against bribery, was already signed on May 8, 1918. According to him, they could be imprisoned for a period of at least 5 years with compulsory labor guilt. The Criminal Code of 1922 provided for execution. By the way, it was in the 1920s and 1930s that the fight against corruption was intensified.
The "First Anti-Corruption Mass Media" has compiled a rating of crimes in the field of corruption during the period of Soviet power:
The case of a member of the investigative commission of the Revolutionary Tribunal Alekseevsky
This sensational case was one of the first after the creation of Dzerzhinsky's Cheka. “The watchman at Baretsky, the second director of the Medved restaurant,” Dzerzhinsky reported to the investigating commission, “overheard a conversation between Alekseevsky and Baretsky on 19/XII-17 as follows: “Alekseevsky demanded 5 thousand rubles from Baretsky for the release of Leonardi (the first director of the Medved "), who was arrested for buying a counterfeit seal."
This case was far from the only one. Residents of the new country constantly complained that the police were not fulfilling their direct function, sometimes extorting bribes - not in money, but in food or moonshine. At the same time, law enforcement officers began to "roof" underground dens. The situation only worsened after the civil war, when the authorities were unable to pay the salaries of policemen from the provinces.
Case of bribery in the judiciary 1948-1949.
Three closed corruption trials took place in the USSR. The USSR Prosecutor's Office uncovered numerous facts of bribery, abuse, merging with criminal elements and the imposition of unjust sentences and decisions in the judicial bodies of Moscow, Kiev, Krasnodar and Ufa. “The investigation established that these crimes were committed in various parts of the judicial system, namely, in the people's courts, the Moscow City Court, the Kiev Regional Court, the Krasnodar Regional Court, the Supreme Court of the RSFSR and, finally, in the Supreme Court of the USSR ... Although the investigation into these cases is still far from finished, but 111 people were arrested in Moscow alone, including: judicial workers - 28, lawyers - 8, legal advisers - 5 and others - 70 ... A group of former members of the Moscow City Court was arrested in the case of the Moscow City Court, namely: Gutorkina, Obukhov, Praushkina and Chursina, who for the past two years has been a member of the Supreme Court of the USSR, as well as people's judges Korotkaya, Burmistrova and Aleksandrova. In addition, the former chairman of the Moscow City Court Vasnev was arrested. As established by the investigation, all these persons systematically, over the course of several years, received bribes in court cases, and also committed all kinds of abuses, and were interconnected in their criminal activities. ... The Supreme Court of the RSFSR also uncovered facts of bribery and other abuses. The investigation established that these crimes were facilitated by the unhealthy atmosphere of nepotism that existed in the apparatus of the Supreme Court, ”the USSR prosecutor Grigory Safonov said in a report to the country's leadership.
Azerbaijan case
In 1969, the "Azerbaijani case" thundered across the USSR, during which the prices for the acquisition of state posts became known. Becoming a judge cost 30 thousand rubles, 100 thousand had to be paid for the post of secretary of the district committee. In Moscow, the position of a store director was paid from 10 to 30 thousand rubles, depending on the turnover. Recall that the average salary in the country then amounted to just over 100 rubles a month.
The Ocean case
One of the most high-profile corruption cases of the Soviet period was the Okean case (1981-82). Back in the late 70s, when the famous "caviar business" was being promoted. Then, Pruidze, the director of the Sochi Okean store, was arrested for giving a bribe to the Deputy Minister of Fisheries of the USSR Rytov. It turned out that black caviar was illegally sold abroad through his outlet in large cans marked with Pacific herring.
From the investigation of this criminal case, the so-called Sochi-Krasnodar case was initiated, one of the accused in which was the first secretary of the Krasnodar regional committee of the CPSU, a member of the Central Committee of the CPSU Medunov. In 1983, Medunov was expelled from the party and stripped of all awards, but soon all this was returned. He died in Moscow in 1999, and after 7 years a memorial plaque was erected in his honor in Krasnodar.
The case of Nikolai Shchelokov
Nikolai Shchelokov served as Minister of the Interior from 1968 to 1982 and was relieved of it shortly after Brezhnev's death. The new head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Vitaly Fedorchuk, ordered a comprehensive inspection of the organs, which revealed a large number of violations. On June 15, 1983, Nikolai Shchelokov was removed from the Central Committee of the CPSU, in November 1984 he was deprived of the rank of army general.
By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of November 10, 1984, Shchelokov was deprived of all state awards, except for military ones, and the title of Hero of Socialist Labor. And in December he was expelled from the CPSU.
Shchelokov shot himself with a hunting rifle on December 13, 1984. 3 days before that, he wrote a letter to Secretary General Konstantin Chernenko, in which he noted that “he did not violate the law, did not change the party lines, did not take anything from the state” and asked only to protect his children from trouble, because “they are not guilty of anything ".
According to the investigator of the Central Control Commission Gustov, Shchelokov took everything - from Mercedes, donated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs by the German government for the Olympics-80, to cribs. Pictures of famous Russian masters (Nikolai Anisimovich was a connoisseur of painting) he kept under the bed - there was not enough space on the walls. Numerous servants of the Shchelokovs' house were enrolled in the staff of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and even his stove-maker was a police major.
It is curious that during the investigation Shchelokov and Medunov helped each other. The first, while still the Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR, dismissed from the police the deputy head of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Sochi City Executive Committee, Udalov, and several other leaders who actively contributed to the exposure of bribe-takers.
Nevertheless, this corruption case was brought to an end. More than 5 thousand officials were dismissed, approximately 1.5 thousand people were sentenced to real terms.
« Cotton" case
"Cotton" case "occupies a special place in our selection. Abuses and underwriting in the cotton industry of Uzbekistan are only one of the components of the anti-corruption investigations that were then carried out in Uzbekistan. A total of 800 criminal cases were initiated, in which more than 4,000 people were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment, accused of postscripts, bribes and embezzlement, and not all of them were directly connected with the cotton industry. The investigation into this case began in the 1970s and ended in 1989.
On April 27, 1983, in Bukhara, while receiving a bribe of a thousand rubles, Muzaffarov, head of the OBKhSS Internal Affairs Directorate of the Bukhara Regional Executive Committee, was caught red-handed. He was taken to the regional KGB, and during a search of his house in a safe, they found simply astronomical values, unthinkable for a simple Soviet person: 1,131,183 rubles, gold coins and gold items, totaling one and a half million rubles. Having found himself backed against the wall, Muzaffarov began to write "turnouts with confessions", handing over the closest accomplices. On the basis of his testimony, Kudratov, director of the Bukhara City Industry and Trade Department, was detained. More than half a million rubles in cash and several glass flasks with jewelry and gold coins were confiscated from him, totaling more than 4 million rubles. Then the chain of arrests and seizures went further and higher.
Several “high-profile” arrests were made, including those arrested and then sentenced: to capital punishment - the former minister of the cotton ginning industry of Uzbekistan V. Usmanov, the former head of the OBKhSS of the Bukhara region A. Muzafarov; to various terms of imprisonment: L. I. Brezhnev’s son-in-law Yu.
An interesting fact is that Moscow investigators Telman Gdlyan and Nikolai Ivanov, who investigated the "cotton case", gained all-Union popularity. In 1989, after an open statement about bribery in the Politburo, both were removed from investigative work for libel, expelled from the CPSU and joined the democratic opposition.
Mosprodtorg case
One of the largest cases of the end of the Soviet period was the Mosprodtorg case, in which the director of the Eliseevsky grocery store, Yuri Sokolov, was shot.
The first arrested in this case was the director of the Moscow Vneshposyltorg (Birch) store Avilov and his wife, who was Sokolov's deputy as director of the Eliseevsky store.
Soon Sokolov was arrested. About 50 thousand Soviet rubles were found at his dacha. During interrogations, Sokolov explained that the money was not his personal, but intended for other people. From his testimony, about a hundred criminal cases were initiated against the leaders of Moscow trade, including against the head of GlavMostorg Tregubov.
There is a version that Sokolov was promised court leniency in exchange for revealing schemes for theft from Moscow shops. At the trial, Sokolov took out a notebook and read out the names and amounts that struck the imagination. But this did not help him - the court sentenced Sokolov to death (execution) with confiscation of property and deprivation of all titles and awards.
The Eliseevsky case became the largest embezzlement case in Soviet trade. Tregubov was sentenced to 15 years in prison, the rest of those arrested received less.
Sokolov was not the only person executed for "embezzlement" in Soviet trade. In 1985, the director of the fruit and vegetable base, Mkhitar Hambardzumyan, was sentenced. The court did not consider extenuating circumstances such as Ambartsumyan's participation in the storming of the Reichstag and in the Victory Parade in 1945.
***
Looking back, I would like to note that, of course, there is no universal method for combating corruption. Times and customs have changed, laws have been rewritten with them, but so far it has not been possible to eradicate this evil, generated by human greed. I would like to believe that new promises to combat bribery and state machinations will not disappear into the sand, as has happened more than once in our history.
Andrey Borovoy, Olga Ilyina
Home / Stalin
At the end of the NEP and after the war, devastation reigned in the country. What dishonest businessmen enjoyed with pleasure. But they managed to defeat them quite quickly ...
Corruption is not a phenomenon today. It also flourished under socialism. But in the USSR, from the 1930s to the beginning of the 1950s, there were periods when everything necessary was done to neutralize it. Corruption, like prostitution, cannot be reduced to nothing, but it is possible to ensure that it does not play a decisive role! This is exactly what Stalin did surprisingly quickly.
And whoever thinks that Stalin defeated corruption because he "simply shot" the bribe-takers is fundamentally mistaken. At least for the reason that in the midst of the fight against post-war corruption (May 26, 1947) he abolished the death penalty. Corruption was defeated by a system of measures that affected everyone, regardless of connections and position in society. Even the relatives of the corrupt official, who knew but did nothing to identify the criminal, were brought to justice as accomplices. Moreover, everyone who even out of the corner of his ear heard, but kept silent, how someone takes bribes or is engaged in other illegal business, fell under the court. That is why in those years a whole series of crimes were uncovered in the sphere of action of ministries, central administrations and enterprises.
The case of the "freeloaders"
After the war, Khlebnoe delo became one of the very first and high-profile. And this is not surprising, because people in those years were ready to give their last for bread!
It began with the fact that the investigators began to study documents, according to which, during 1945, the Council of People's Commissars allocated flour, sugar, condensed milk and other products to the baking industry. And the detectives got on the trail of a gang of corrupt officials led by the head of the supply department of the Rosglavkhleb distribution system, Mikhail Isaev. They profited by allocating to some trusts all the deficits without delay, and even in excess. For which their bosses rolled back to the Moscow authorities according to the following scheme.
They wrote out, for example, a ton of sugar to a confectionery factory. But in fact, only 950 kg were released, leaving 50 kilos to Isaev in the form of a rollback. In order to make up for this shortage (and even cash in), in the manufacture of, say, cookies, instead of 1000 kg of sugar, 900 went into production. You won’t understand the difference in taste.
They also stole food directly, and then attributed the shortage to some unknown bandits who allegedly stole the goods directly from the cars. According to the documents of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, “from April 14, 1945 to 1946 inclusive, the criminal group of Isaev stole: 1670 kg of sugar, 8500 kg of flour, 670 kg of saccharin, 414 kg of butter, 2605 kg of jam and marmalade, etc. - in total for the amount of 1,139,230 rubles. 18 kopecks.
Isaev and his chief accountant Rosenbaum were given 25 years each, and their accomplices went to prison for a long time. With the complete confiscation of property - not only from corrupt officials, but also from their relatives.
The Case of the Weavers
In those years, there was nothing to sleep on, there was nothing to sew a shirt from. And the state began to allocate linen fabrics for overalls from scarce reserves. Which were disposed of by the head of the department of the Moscow Interregional Office, Comrade Tavshunsky. He organized the business in such a way that it began to be enough for bedding, and for shirts, and even for dresses for individual post-war beauties. To do this, he contacted the artel of tailors. And the wheels of the sewing machines began to spin, releasing everything in a shortened form, and besides, mostly small sizes. They say that the dressing gowns on the proletarians, who were emaciated during the war, will converge anyway ... However, no matter how much the thread twisted, the end of it was found quickly enough. Here is how it was said in the special report of the Ministry of Internal Affairs: “Tavshunsky entered into criminal ties with a number of leaders of the Moscow promartels, receiving bribes from them for the fact that they, with his knowledge, made small-sized overalls, thereby creating excess linen fabric, which they then sold to their own. accomplices…”.
In total, Tavshunsky and his “colleagues” stole fabrics worth 180 thousand rubles. In those days - crazy money! Bottom line: all crooks got what they deserved so that their relatives curse Stalin to this day.
The Case of the Musicians
No matter what they say, but then the country wanted songs. And in the early 50s, the hunt for records began. This was immediately taken advantage of by the "musical figures" from the Aprelevsk record factory represented by the head of production Doroshenko, the head of the sales department Mironov and the store manager Oskin.
Thanks to their "intervention", some of the plates began to be pressed in a semi-handicraft manner from stolen powder. According to the documents of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, "the criminal group Doroshenko - Mironov - Oskin turned this state production mainly into their personal property and began to use it for the manufacture of unaccounted products with their subsequent sale."
Corrupt "musical connections" from Moscow quickly entangled the RSFSR, Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic states. Money for the left goods poured into the pockets of the "musicians" in droves. To prove their crimes, special checks were organized. So, along the route of the trains, containers and wagons with raw materials for the production of records were reweighed; surplus raw materials were installed and activated; individual wagons and containers were opened, and the quality of the material was determined in them. All corrupt "musicians" were confronted with facts and confessed to their deeds.
P. S. From whom are bribes smooth?
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Bandit USSR. The brightest criminal cases
| Title: | |
| Kolesnik Andrey | |
| Grade: | 4.8 of 5, readers votes - 4 |
| Genres: | history |
| Abstract: | After the collapse of the USSR, many thought that the world had gone crazy - they began to talk about terrible murders, robberies and robberies in the news. But was it really peaceful to live in the Land of the Soviets, or did the results of the last harvesting campaign cover up, like a screen, the real state of affairs? The author will tell you about the most high-profile crimes and the most insidious villains of the Soviet Union. Details of crimes, photographs, errors and miscalculations of the investigation, as well as the culmination of investigations - all this can be found in the book. |
| Table of Contents: |
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I wanted to start the article with the words - "the country is shaken by corruption scandals." However, I realized that it would be just a beautiful phrase, absolutely not expressing the essence of the matter. They no longer shock anyone, and for a long time. Everyone perceives total corruption as something familiar. And it is unlikely that in the current conditions one can hope for any serious progress. Although, some, the most sensible part of the bureaucracy, probably understands (well, should at least understand) that all this leads to the collapse of the holding pillars. As is obvious, the corruption of the apparatus is already fraught with chaos, which can prevent the performance of normal managerial functions. Moreover, this chaos threatens with particular destruction in the event of a new wave of the global crisis. Embedding in the global market makes the country's economy dependent on various external influences. And large-scale corruption only strengthens this influence, transforming it into a kind of anti-state format.
At one “wonderful” moment, everything can simply collapse, the federal vertical will “crack”, and the control center will move to the regions. And this process can be facilitated by those forces outside the country that are interested in the confederalization of Russia, in establishing control over its raw materials, in destabilizing vast regions. But everything is even much more complicated - a real counteraction to corruption, even if it does not aim at its final eradication, can turn into a serious intra-apparatus struggle. If high-ranking officials of the highest rank are subjected to criminal prosecution, then this will cause fierce resistance from a part of the bureaucracy, which is capable of organizing itself into a kind of “corruption front”. It is also possible the creation of a legal political force acting as a lobbyist for corrupt officials. And such a force can be fueled by those regional clans that will bet on radical or "moderate" separatism.
But be that as it may, bureaucratic circles are afraid of a real anti-corruption purge, always remembering the very “bloody”, “thirty-seventh year”. And in this regard, it would be very interesting to turn to the pre-war Stalinist experience.
“Corruption under Stalin and the fight against it” is a very interesting and multifaceted topic. There is even a version according to which the repressions of 1937-1938 were directed specifically against corrupt officials, and politics served as a kind of cover.
On the eve of the war, Stalin creates a new powerful structure - the People's Commissariat for State Control (NKGK). It is headed by L. Z. Mekhlis, whom we managed to demonize and denigrate to the utmost, recalling his failures during the Great Patriotic War. Needless to say, the commander Lev Zakharovich was not too strong, but the manager was quite talented even. Stalin used his grip to thoroughly clean the then army elite. Characteristically, the NKGK was created on the basis of two structures - the Commission of Soviet Control under the Council of People's Commissars (SNK) and the Main Military Control under the SNK. This alone indicated the main direction of the blow. They were going to beat the army officials. It is no coincidence that 130 servicemen were appointed to the central office of the NKGK.
Zealous Mekhlis, as the leader expected, took up the matter seriously. “In general, in the first half of 1941, about 400 revisions and inspections were carried out, primarily in those sectors of the national economy on which the country's readiness for defense directly depended,” reports historian Yu. V. Rubtsov. - Often, Mekhlis, feeling the leader's full support, also made direct accusations against big business executives and managers. Here are just some of the facts. Thanks to an inspection carried out in November 1940 by the People's Commissariat of the Navy, Lev Zakharovich became aware of the "anti-state practice of double financial planning" that had taken place there. People's Commissar S. S. Dukelsky asked the government for a subsidy of 63 million rubles, while concealing that the People's Commissariat had drawn up a second, real financial plan, which not only required subsidies, but also expected profit "(" Mekhlis. The Shadow of the Leader ").
And now imagine (remembering the failures of the first days of the war) what would have happened to the country without these large-scale pre-war purges.
This is an army, but perhaps the valiant state security agencies, which are the “punishing sword of the revolution” and the “armed detachment of the party”, were free from corruption? No, there were enough high-ranking corrupt officials here too. Take, for example, the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR A. V. Balitsky, who was subjected to the notorious "bloody repressions." He was accused not only of "counter-revolution", but also the maintenance of a luxurious mansion in the center of Kiev, which cost 35 thousand rubles a year. In addition, the People's Commissar had at his disposal the Dnepr steamship, on which pleasure trips were carried out, which took 250 thousand rubles from the state budget. Well, of course, they stole in the people's commissariat in a terrible way. “So, back in 1934, a certain Yanshevsky was removed from the post of head of the financial department of the NKVD of the Ukrainian SSR and sent north by the head of one of the camps, who was charged with “misuse of 1 million rubles from the operational fund,” reports researcher A.V. Kollontaev. - In February 1938, in Moscow, the former Deputy People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR Z. B. Katsnelson appeared before the court on charges of "systematic squandering of funds allocated for operational needs." In 1936 alone, the amount of embezzlement amounted to 200 thousand rubles. (“1937: purge of “Leninists” or corruption”)
There are many such facts. And they testify that corrupt officials in those days were purged at all levels, not stopping at the ministerial rank. There were no untouchables at that time, even members of the Politburo were purged, though politics was already in the first place here. But all the same, the top bureaucracy did not feel at ease for a minute - in contrast to the 1950-1980s, when it corny degenerated and handed over the country with giblets, naturally, not forgetting to receive solid dividends for this. Well, it's not even worth talking about today.
It may be objected that there is nothing good in the repressions themselves, that the state apparatus should function in a calm mode, without constant shake-ups. In principle, we can agree with this, but here we must keep in mind that the bureaucracy itself set this terrible pace. Today it is known that Stalin planned a “purge” through alternative elections, during which candidates from the party in power would have to compete with candidates from public organizations and labor collectives (More on this in Yu. N. Zhukov’s study “The Other Stalin”). Even samples of the bulletins have already been prepared, they are stored in the archives, and their photocopies have long been published. However, the partyocracy demanded repression, clearly not wanting to be included in a full-fledged electoral process. Well, they got what they wanted.
Executives had to be constantly purged, and these purges were systematic, and not limited to the persecution of individuals who were "unfortunate." And here it would be interesting to turn to the situation that developed in the countryside in the postwar period. It is believed that the Stalinist village was powerless, and the peasants depended on the local authorities at various levels for everything. Meanwhile, the authorities then greatly cleaned the ranks of presumptuous bosses, who managed to pretty much get bogged down in various abuses. (More details in the study by K. Z. Romanenko “The Last Years of Stalin. The Renaissance.”)
A list of these abuses is given in the resolution of the Council of Ministers and the Central Committee "On Measures to Eliminate Violations of the Charter of the Agricultural Artel on Collective Farms" (dated September 19, 1946). They were expressed in “improper spending of workdays, plundering the public lands of collective farms, plundering collective farm property ... violating the democratic foundations for managing the affairs of an agricultural artel ...” “As it was reported, in unnecessary and far-fetched positions on collective farms, grabbers and parasites who evade production work often take refuge ...” . Words were followed by deeds - in 1946 alone, 9,551 executives were brought to criminal responsibility for malfeasance.
But here you need to understand the cause and effect. It is believed that Stalin defeated corruption through tough measures. However, these measures themselves were possible only thanks to socialism, even if it was “bureaucratic”, “half-hearted”. The country did not have a breeding ground for corruption, namely, the market element. It is she, with her cult of buying and selling, that implies the venality of officials of all levels and ranks. The same, by the way, also applies to national sovereignty, which under capitalism is the same commodity. This is why national economies are undermined, and therefore Western production is exported to third world countries with their minimal taxes and cheap labor. And this cheap labor force is imported into developed countries, eroding their national identity.
And so, under capitalism, officials use their position to the fullest. Take, for example, the example of former US Vice President D. Cheney. Along with politics, he also had a successful business career, serving as campaign president for the Halliburton Company, an oil and gas equipment manufacturer.
How they took bribes under Stalin. From the history of the fight against corruption in Russia
One of the branches of HC - Brown & Roon - was engaged in the construction of army barracks and cleaning toilets. So, as soon as Cheney assumed his prominent position, his campaign instantly signed a lucrative multi-billion-dollar agreement with the Pentagon for various supplies to US military units operating in the Persian Gulf.
Or here is another, more recent, albeit less ambitious, example - recently US Secretary of Defense L. Panetta demoted the head of the US African Command (AFRICOM) W. Ward. He was punished for spending huge amounts of money on luxury travel and other unbudgeted activities. It is significant that Ward was not subjected to any criminal prosecution - he was demoted in rank and his pension was cut from 236 thousand dollars to 209 thousand dollars a year. The punishment, to be sure, is terrible.
Much can be said here about advanced Europe, whose corruption costs, according to official data from the Council of Europe, amount to 120 billion euros a year. And this is just the tip of the iceberg – what we have been able to measure. And according to the Eurobarometer study, 74% of Europeans state the role of corruption. What can I say, if corruption scandals accompanied such famous European politicians as F. Mitterrand, J. Chirac, N. Sarkozy, G. Kohl. There were a lot of interesting things there. Thus, one of Chirac's accomplices, Prime Minister Alain Juppe, received a deferred prison sentence for his corrupt arts, which did not prevent him from becoming foreign minister during the reign of Sarkozy.
Well, to complete the picture, let's touch on another advanced capitalist country - Japan. Here, the audit checked how the funds spent on the aftermath of the tsunami and the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant were allocated. So it turned out that more than a quarter of the 11.7 trillion yen (which is 148 billion dollars) were spent on projects that had nothing to do with the restoration of the destroyed.
And how they tried to convince us and try to convince us that there is practically no corruption in the conditions of Western democracy! But even there the cut is such that mother do not grieve. And it's not about "democracy" or "dictatorship", it's about capitalism. In general, all this "la-la" about corruption, and the "nationwide" struggle against it, hides the main necessity - the struggle for the nationalization of property. In the USSR (even in the most "stagnant" times), as you know, they stole less. And this is because there were relatively few super-rich, and the scale of wealth (legal and illegal) was much smaller. After all, in fact, it is possible to take more from the super-rich. Well, in order to protect yourself, you need to let others feed, because it’s not even an hour and they really will rise “to fight”. This is how, in fact, the notorious “vertical of corruption” is formed.
Of course, all this does not mean at all that it is necessary to return to the "bureaucratic" model of socialism. By the way, Stalin himself made a lot of efforts to reform early socialism in the USSR, which was simply forced to use the levers of state regulation not even one hundred, but two hundred percent. It is curious that the draft of the new party program, developed after the war under the leadership of A. A. Zhdanov, assumed the mandatory election of officials of any rank, the holding of a popular vote, and the granting of the right to request to public organizations and individual citizens. (More on this in the study by A. A. Danilov and A. Pyzhikova, “The Birth of a Superpower. The USSR in the First Post-War Years.”) But the situation, frankly speaking, did not favor this – the Cold War began. It was necessary to think about preserving what was already there. However, as they say, this is a topic for a separate discussion.
Mysteries of history
Corruption under Stalin
Corruption is as old as the world. It existed at all times and under all regimes. The USSR was no exception. But here you need to understand that everything depends on quality and quantity. Yes, in the Soviet Union they took bribes. But if we talk about the period of the 30-50s, it should be noted that corruption under Stalin was more episodic than massive. It was practically neutralized and did not affect people's lives in any way.
Someone might think that Stalin defeated the bribe takers by simply shooting them down. This is fundamentally wrong. It should not be forgotten that in May 1947 the death penalty in the socialist state was abolished, and the system fought against corrupt elements. She put pressure on dishonest officials, regardless of their merits, ranks and connections.
Not only direct accomplices were brought to justice for bribes. Relatives of corrupt officials also responded to the full extent of the law, but only if they knew about criminal activity, but did not report it. Severe questions were also asked of those who guessed about bribes, but did not inform the competent authorities. As a result of such an uncompromising approach, law enforcement officers uncovered a whole series of illegal actions in ministries, central administrations, departments and enterprises.
bread business
One of the largest in the postwar years was Khlebnoe delo. It consisted in the fact that a gang of corrupt officials settled in Rosglavkhleb. Unsightly affairs were led by the head of the supply department, a certain M. Isaev. He got dirty money by allocating flour, sugar, and condensed milk, which were in short supply in those years, to individual trusts in excess of the established funds. For this, the heads of the trusts paid off with the Moscow benefactor according to a well-established corruption scheme.
For example, a ton of sugar was sent to a confectionery factory. But in fact, 950 kg passed, and Isaev set aside the remaining 50 kg for himself. In principle, the difference in 1 bag was impossible to notice. In production, sugar was poured into vats in buckets, and whether more or less was added, the buyer who bought the sweets still could not understand.
All these surpluses were sold by Isaev's gang through their own trading channels, and they appropriated the money for the sale. That is, there was a criminal scheme in which many unscrupulous people were involved.
Theft, mixed with corruption, continued from April 1945 to December 1946, that is, in the most difficult and hungry time for the country. During this period, the bandits stole 1690 kg of sugar, 8700 kg of flour, 450 kg of butter, 710 kg of saccharin, 2703 kg of marmalade and jam. The total amount of damage amounted to 1 million 145 thousand 382 rubles 19 kopecks. At that time, the amount was astronomical.
For the crimes committed, Isaev and his main accomplices received 25 years in prison. Other members of the gang got off with lighter terms of imprisonment. However, it should be taken into account that the property of both the corrupt officials themselves and their trusted relatives was confiscated.
The case of the weavers
In the post-war years, any material was considered a shortage. There were not enough sheets, pillowcases, dresses, shirts, stockings and socks. There were also problems with uniforms. For its tailoring, linen fabric was allocated from scarce strategic stocks.
These funds were managed by the head of the interregional office N. Tavshunsky. This person very quickly realized that a lot of money can be made on the deficit. Therefore, with the knowledge of the Moscow chief, tailors' artels were created. They began to sew products of small sizes and in a shortened form.
Of course, during the years of the war, people became emaciated, shrunken, so it will be just right for them. So apparently thought Tavshunsky and his accomplices. The latter, by the way, gave the head of the interregional office large bribes, and for this he turned a blind eye to small sizes and excess linen fabric. From them, the left product was obtained. They were dresses, shirts, pillowcases, sheets. Stores sold them out instantly.
In total, Tavshunsky and his gang caused damage to the state for 215 thousand rubles. As a result, all crooks and bribe-takers sat down for many years, cursing the existing regime and Comrade Stalin.
The Case of the Musicians
It was hard for people after the war, but everyone wanted a little joy and fun, and therefore songs were very popular. Therefore, in the late 40s, a real boom in records began. This situation was immediately taken advantage of by the head of production of the Aprelevka plant for the production of gramophone records F.
How Stalin fought corruption in the Soviet Union and did not steal. History of Stalin and the USSR.
Doroshenko. In criminal activities, he dragged the head of sales I. Mironov and the head of the factory warehouse M. Oskin.
Thanks to this criminal gang of thieves and bribe-takers, some of the records began to be pressed from unrecorded powder. The criminals have turned state socialist production into a source of personal gain. They made unrecorded products and sold them through well-established criminal channels.
Records were sold in the RSFSR, the Baltic States, Belarus, Ukraine. The criminal octopus covered a huge region. Investigative groups of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, investigating this case, worked in different republics and cities. In just 2 months, the detectives identified all the connections and dealt a merciless blow to them. Members of a criminal gang ended up in the dock and received long prison terms.
Stalin
We talk about corruption under Stalin, but at the same time we think little about the personality of the leader. How did this person feel about luxury, wealth, money?
Here is what Colonel N. Zakharov wrote in his report, who described the property belonging to Stalin after his death: “When I opened the wardrobe of comrade. Stalin, then he thought that he was richer than he. On the hangers hung two jackets, one overcoat, there were a pair of boots and two pairs of felt boots. Some boots are new and hemmed, others are new and never worn. I didn't see anything else."
And here is how Henri Barbusse described the life of Joseph Vissarionovich in the early 30s: “One of the main leaders of the Bolshevik Party lives in a small 3-room apartment in the Kremlin. In the tiny hall hangs an ordinary soldier's overcoat, and above it is a heavily worn cap. Three small rooms are furnished like in a cheap hotel. One of them is reserved for the dining room. At night, the eldest son Yakov sleeps in it. No average employee in Europe would be satisfied with such living conditions.
It is not at all surprising that with such a disregard for material wealth, the leader of the USSR waged a merciless fight against those who wanted to bathe in luxury and wealth. And the situation was aggravated by the fact that this wealth was acquired by criminal means with money stolen from the state. But the country had just survived the Great Patriotic War, and hunger, devastation and poverty reigned in it.
Alexey Starikov
HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF CORRUPTION IN RUSSIA
Legal Sciences
Rzayeva Arzu Isbandiyar
Keywords: CORRUPTION; MEASURES TO OVERCOME CORRUPTION; ANTI-CORRUPTION POLICY; ANTI-CORRUPTION; CORRUPTION; ADDRESSING CORRUPTION; ANTI-CORRUPTION POLICY; ANTI-CORRUPTION.
Annotation: This article examines the history of the origin and development of corruption in Russia. The main causes of corruption and the necessary measures to overcome it are identified. Based on the analysis of the main measures, methods of anti-corruption policy for the prevention and detection of corruption manifestations are proposed.
Currently, there is not a single state in the world in which there would be no corruption. Today, in Russia, the problem of corruption is undoubtedly relevant.
Corruption has a negative impact on all spheres of society. In the economic sphere, it leads to a decline in the development of the economy, the financial system, and the entire infrastructure of the Russian state. Corruption is viewed as a negative phenomenon that impedes business development and reduces the country's wealth.
In the social sphere, it contributes to a decrease in the standard of living of the population, which causes a split in society into rich and poor. Political corruption undermines the prestige of the country in the international arena, reduces the people's confidence in the authorities. In the moral and spiritual life of society, the norms of morality are refracted.
In order to effectively fight corruption, it is necessary to know its roots and features of its origin.
Bribes appeared in Ancient Russia, this is known from the surviving records. In the 9th century, the Old Russian state borrowed a system called “feedings”, which is a special way of keeping officials at the expense of the local population. The prince sent governors and other service people to the cities and volosts. The population was obliged to support them "to feed" during the entire period of service, which naturally led to bribes. In general, this system of keeping officials was completely ineffective.
In the XV century. Corruption in Russia has become systemic. The official performed some kind of action for the offering, directly related to his direct duties, this phenomenon was called "bribery".
Of course, the emerging negative social phenomenon gave rise to the need to combat it on the part of the state. Already in 1561, Ivan the Terrible introduced the Charter of Judgment, which established sanctions for taking bribes by judicial officials. Significant changes in the field of corruption prevention were undertaken by Peter the Great. In December 1714, a decree "On the prohibition of bribes and promises" was issued, which provided for the death penalty for corruption.
However, already during the reign of Catherine II, the death penalty was abolished, as a result of which the growth of corruption increased. In 1845, with the direct support of Alexander III, the Code of Criminal and Correctional Punishments was adopted, which for the first time introduced new rules establishing liability for bribery and providing for imprisonment as a punishment for this unlawful act.
Corruption reached its peak in the last years of the reign of Nicholas II, when the highest positions in his government were bought and sold. Attempts to toughen the fight against corruption in the period 1911-1916.
How Stalin fought corruption
were caused by the transformation of corruption into a well-functioning mobilized opposition political organization.
During the period of building a socialist state, it was also not possible to get rid of bribe-takers. It should be noted that even under the totalitarian regime of I.V. Stalin, corruption was not completely eradicated, although his rule was the least corrupt. Corruption received its large-scale distribution in the USSR in 1970-1980. This negative phenomenon affected practically all state and party bodies and institutions.
Thus, based on the historical data presented, it can be concluded with confidence that the prerequisites for the development of corruption in modern Russia originated in ancient times and were formed throughout the entire period of its development.
Currently, international ratings show that the level of corruption in Russia is unacceptably high. According to the National Anti-Corruption Committee, by 2010 the amount of corruption in the country in monetary terms varies from 240 to 300 billion dollars.
It should be noted that in recent years the number of measures taken by the Russian state to eliminate corruption has increased, but, unfortunately, so far, a significant effect in anti-corruption activities has not been achieved.
Consider the main causes of corruption in the modern Russian state. A significant cause of corruption is the lack of control of the executive branch of the legislature. In Russia, there is no institution of parliamentary investigations, which successfully operates in foreign countries. In addition, one of the main economic sources of corruption is the shadow market, the raw material imbalance of the Russian economy. In the social base, corruption is based on the strongest stratification of society. Public participation in anti-corruption processes is also ineffective.
In general, in order to increase the effectiveness of the anti-corruption policy, it is necessary to implement the following measures that will ensure its overcoming:
Analysis of the causes of corruption and their specifics at this stage;
Determination of strategies and tactics for combating corruption;
Strengthening control by supervisory authorities over the implementation of laws and official duties by officials;
Creation of an independent anti-corruption chamber;
Transition from declaring the income of state and municipal employees to declaring their expenses;
Conducting open trials against persons who have committed a corruption crime;
Establishment as a sanction for corruption crimes of confiscation of property and compensation for material damage caused to the state;
Using the help of various civil society institutions;
Following the law, not by-laws.
Thus, it should be noted that the methods of the anti-corruption policy of the state should be aimed not only at preventing, but also at identifying newly created manifestations of corruption. This means that the improvement of activities aimed at combating corruption should be supported by comprehensive measures.
Bibliography
- Federal Law of December 25, 2008 No. N 273-FZ "On Combating Corruption" Edition of 07.09.2013 N 102 FZ, of 3.11.2015 N 303-FZ // Official Internet portal of legal information: www.gov.ru, (date of access: 03.07.2016)
- Andreev A. Russian statehood in terms: IX-beginning of the XX century // A. Andreev. M.: Kraft, 2001. 243s.
- Grigoryeva E.O., Petrenko N.I. History of Russian corruption. // Mariyskiy legal bulletin, 2015. No. 1(12) . - P.157-158.
- Nomokonov V.A. Corruption in Russia: Social Consequences and Features of the Causes. // Actual problems of economics and law, 2013. No. 4 (28) . pp. 64-67.
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Corruption in the USSR
Corruption in Russia has deep historical roots and social background. The bureaucracy in Russia has never been particularly law-abiding. And the situation with the legislation has always been not up to par. Saltykov-Shchedrin also said<При таких законах жизнь в России без взяток была бы невозможна>. The tradition of giving offerings to officials in our Fatherland is rooted in the "feeding" system, which was finally formed during the time of the Moscow Grand Duchy (XIV-XV centuries). The very first mention of bribery appeared in Russian chronicles of the 13th century during the formation of a centralized state, at a time when power directly from the prince began to pass into the hands of his close associates.
Scientists managed to find out that corruption appeared during the Soviet era and reached its greatest extent in the 1980s and during the collapse of the USSR. The word "corruption" came into use only in the late 1980s. Instead, the terms "bribery", "abuse of official position", "connivance", etc. were used. In a closed letter of the Central Committee of the CPSU "On intensifying the fight against bribery and theft of people's goods" dated March 29, 1962, it was said that bribery is "a social phenomenon generated by the conditions of an exploiting society." The October Revolution eliminated the root causes of bribery, and "the Soviet administrative and managerial apparatus is an apparatus of a new type." Shortcomings in the work of party, trade union and state bodies, primarily in the field of education of workers, were listed as reasons for corruption.
Under Brezhnev, corruption was very widespread, only not so many people knew about it, all this was considered a state secret. The system of deceptions, postscripts, ostentatious information - all this characterized the level of decomposition of society and especially the party apparatus. Huge sums were spent on the purchase of grain, at the same time, agriculture was fading before our eyes. And even the grown crop was collected at best by half. The rest perished during cleaning, transportation and storage. The management, as it were, did not notice this and spent tons of gold on the purchase of more and more new products abroad. Ultimately, the purchases of bread and other food products turned into the largest mafia operations.
At the same time, the Ministry of Internal Affairs was fighting against poor grannies who were trying to sell a bunch of radishes or onions from the metro. In the eyes of the police, every Soviet merchant was invariably a thief. Shortage, underweight, shrinkage, shrinkage, regrading, write-off of goods, cullet, left goods and eternal shortage. Even what was in abundance, the Soviet traders got the hang of making a deficit. Any merchant could have been imprisoned. Traders fought back, as expected, with bribes. Under Shchelokov, the police became criminally extortionate: in one place they will give you a bottle, in another they will put a drink with a snack, in a third they will impose a bag of food, in a fourth they will give you a deficit.
Four sectors coexisted in the Soviet economy: 1) legal command economy (planned economy); 2) legal market economy (collective farm markets, markets for consumer goods); 3) not legal market economy (black market); 4) illegal command economy ("clan socialism" based on corrupt relations). The destruction of the Soviet system greatly weakened sector 1, but it was not sector 3 that benefited, as many believed, but, above all, sector 4. Therefore, the role of corruption in the post-Soviet economy did not weaken at all, but rather increased. The basis of Soviet corruption was a total distribution system in conditions of a constant shortage of goods and services. Therefore, the main areas of corruption were logistics, investment, planning and reporting on their implementation, accompanied by general postscripts.
Soviet corruption was distinguished from the current one by a lower level of payments and services. The development of corruption was hampered by the fear of not only criminal punishment, but also the possibility of expulsion from the nomenklatura. The special services and the KGB carefully monitored the actions of the first persons in the power structure. An extensive apparatus of party functionaries was thrown to their aid.
Yeltsin's reforms, designed to put an end to the communist regime, actually undermined the institutions of the state and strengthened political crime. According to L. Shelley, the state was both privatized and plundered at the same time. "Boris Yeltsin's family and his entourage became involved in tax evasion, privatization and licensing using inside information, as well as in the massive export of financial assets, natural resources and industrial products of state enterprises."
The state apparatus was unable to restore the shattered economy, to put the collapsing social sphere (education, science, health care) on its feet, to effectively fight crime. Rather, crime fought the state and penetrated into power.
How Stalin defeated corruption
Officials, called upon to take care of the welfare of society, sent large sums of international loans and funds from the state budget for personal enrichment. Profits from the sale of natural resources belonging to the whole society and industrial products were transferred to offshore zones and fell into private accounts. The state, which does not receive any profit from the sale of raw materials and products abroad, got more and more into debt. At the same time, there was an active outflow of domestic capital to Western countries. As a result, the once powerful state overnight turned into a third-rate country; in terms of the quality of life of the population, it slipped from 7th to 71st place.
Corruption has reached unprecedented proportions in post-Soviet Russia. It is actively studied not only by domestic, but also by foreign scientists.
