MANAGEMENT OF A SCVKHOZ

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600040011-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 20, 2011
• Sequence Number: 11
• Publication Date: April 4, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

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CLASSIFICATfON SSC;RE'P
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
IIWFORMAl'I?N REPOR"~
couNTRY uss~
SUBJECT A,anagement of a Scvkhaz
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N0. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOWI
SUPr^L~i?1ENT TO
REPORT N0.
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THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMr.TION
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the otekhtlikum (egricultsral technical school) at YCharkov
ecelerated couree nt the Agricultural InRtitute in
rom o 1934. The speed-up program in the early aineteen-
thirties resulted Prom the fact that the Soviet Governmesst was in dire need
of agricultural. cadres in order to save the agricultural econoa~ R~.u'ing the
ybars of collectivization and or of 9ovkhozes esad machine trsctor
stations (M'~g). The subjects Leni
agrad included thf fol-
lowing: agricultural technologyY chemistry, physics, agricultuel rsacnin-
ery, military science, dlalectienl and historical materialism, e~.d history
of the Pa_*ty. Ia -ddi.ticn to ;cave s ionowieage of ttae or-
gsaizatlan sad maasgement o ngr c? ure ae well ns of financial and eco-
nomic aspects of agricultural enterprises.
director of the eov~hos monthly salary was 1,800 rubles.
y or political aftsirs wa the ssm~. 13ut sot a17. directors
receive the same director of another sovkhos, s
smaller one;~v ~ o y 1,20C or e:~a ~ rubles a moath.
Srlary rate: _or rectors, ae well as booliclceepers, deputies for political
aic?fairs, deputies for productian, agroaosdsts, sooteeaaiciaas, section
chiefs sad w~orfosrr Sa political eeetic~s, sre based on the sasouat of land
held by a so~oz, the na~bsr af, sactioas it coataine, its tendeacies, and
its location. The sates xe~ fined by the 'people's 0ommiesarlat of gov-
khozsa aa3 did mot abate.
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Repair mechaaies for tractors and agr:cult:~.al machineay combine drivers, and
others on tqual footing received 5m ruCl.ea a month each, provided the repairs
were carried out on time and the combinee filled the norms, vhich vas seldom
achieved. Tractor drivers received 25~ xublea a tenth if the norm set for
farm work was fulfilled 1C^ ~ ^nd the gegolinc allotment not exceeded.
If the norm wn.e exceeded by 1C ~ the tractor drl~r.rb received a bonus
of 20 ~ of their basir_ salary; et.c, on a pragreselv~ stale oP payment
for their nark. If the production was short of tk.e nom, say by 1C ~
their basic salary vas reduced by 1(1? ian~i ~ .. As far aR the
remaining mass of male and female 1Gbor Ss concerned, they varkt3 or. a piece-
work *_-s1. s-d ae:Er made m;-e t;en 1.~-1.'0 r-~bles a month. The workers who
fulfilled the established norm rcitived, marecver, free c? c'rasgr one liter
of skimmed (peregon) milk per day.
When an established plan vsa over-falfill.ed~ the wngea increnaed shar;ly.
It was seldom the came, and even when i.t did happen, it wss net without
throwing dust into somebody's eyes and nt the expense of the gwllty of land
cultivatir~n. The administration itself, narking in concert with the political
section, always tried to have a number rork front?linera" an hand
to parade them as as exemele to athers.~9 produced s"
artificially Prom among the era or the Komsomol.
have been rated wozttless if nstrated the role of the Party
member 1n production. front-liners" (pcredovikl} even
The managers of an~,mal hushandxy and cr~ep-reia~ng teams received 3(X~ rubles
a month eac2~ but lived better tbnn a sovkhCZ director because all the natural
resources were canctrtrated in their ha3ds and they carried .Less reepanaibility
fnr the managemarxt and fu1.fl.Lla-ent of p1anF than the director oY a covkhoz.
Housing conditions were poor. The workers lived in comectnel :tats, with one
rooa to n whole family. Bachelors lived i.n heatela, four ar five men to a
room. Even when housing condltions permitted better liviriz, the workers were
eti~? t~*_. in ho.tele; ?_rty discipline required That. A11.`,ad to li.e
together sc ;hat eons might be able to think freely about h1A personal life,
and each could be kept under thr constant control of sestet infozaers of
ehoa there were many.
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mh^ l.av forbids +,he uoi~ters or empiaycrs of ~ swvhmc?z ti: owe: e~ibsidiary X9.rms,
{egetable gardens, plots, cows or other livestocFi. Time 1aY forestalls any
..nterest that a worker might have in a homesiead of his oea,. ns is *.he case
is kolkhozes, eo that he may devote more time to production is the eovkhoz and
be deptadeat on it. Besides, a sovkhoz worker is sot a member oP collective
fans but o~ a coasisteatly "socialistic" farm. The aim of the State is to
ring him to the 1eve1 of as industrial worker eo that he wculd awn nothi?~?a
5xccp`t nia own twq Heads, i e, to knock a'it of him tho psychology of gain
and yearning for property. A laborer must be 7cept is coaetattt poverty ao
that he may be used at gill by the underlings of t?he zbgime.
Ix~ the sovkhoz gaaizstioa was trea-endourly
big. There was ? Fo ca, section Its chief was appointed
by the agrict;lt::ral section of the 'en rat Coxmittee VKP(b). He was a member
at the Party and a graduate of the All-Uniaa ~:ommuni~t University, where he
studied the orgaaizatiaa of agricult+:ral plaaniag and production. It ~'aa tho
Iaatitute imeni StNlia it? Leningrad. Tee ohiet of the political section woo
at the same time for political affairs. The apparatus o! then polit-
ical rection incl puty chief fox Party work, a deputy Yoe Komsasoi
rk, a deputy for tamale labor, amvea lnstructora far each of the aovkhvs
actions who at the same time are deputy sec:tiena :hlafa, a secretary far the
Party bureau, an, editor of the ?~^vkhoz newspsgsry r club supervisor, s technical
secretary, and a ehiot of cadreeJ eltogethor lb poraoar who da aothiag else
except Party and political Turk and rsoeive f'-^m 7'~ to 1800 rubler a month each.
All party sad political work ie perr?oxaad according to Ti1aa and 1n agresaleat
with the political section of the aovkhot tr~,:et sad the rayron Party or~aatsation,
T}u Party organitatioa exercises etriat yuperv~riou over the fulfil.laisat of
production pleas of the sevkhos, the timely prymsat of ;?tote taxes, and the
execution of the higher echelaa ardrre in.Rtructiona fror.tha party aaad goverasunt
organizations. It demands reports from tse dirsctor, dtparttneat hoods, epsc-
islists, agronomists and aoatechaictane, to the t,areau of, the Party comittee
sad to be preoented at geweral aeetiags. The work hertweea tbR political
sections and the maargiag :+:+r.o~el .e pearly ad~ucted, ba~::une tAr managing
personnel answer with their lives for the rliphteat mishap -?? error. ?bile
the political sections do sot help then but critics:e them ,.r,ar.aad and report
their observations of say shortcomings to the higher ecltel~.ir of the Party
organization. On the surface, their ztlntioaship is normal, but underneath
they caaaat stand each other. Rare it the cash where the political apparatus
coopeeates with the ~aeging personnel; on the other brad if tisere is a
bxeakdowa in the econos~, sat only the managing parwnael but the political
leaders, as well, see biased for it. The latter ors then cbaxged with dulled
political and Party vigilance, fraternitatioa with the sovirbc+z ad:Snistratioa,
collusion, lack of supervision, etc. The Party leaders themselves try to
create aatagoaism between the political apparatus and the managing personnel
so that the political adminietratioa wat;ld not trust them but, instead, spy
oa every man sad ail his ti+ork. Atrald Sor their owe ekiao sad valuing their
careers, the Party workers in the sovkhoses, in sry opinion, often uaderminr
Had impede the fultillment of production pleas.
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