PREPARING FOREIGN TRADE PLANS IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600400412-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 25, 2011
• Sequence Number: 412
• Publication Date: July 27, 1951
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/25: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600400412-9
LANGUAGE
CIASSIFII'ATION CONFIDENTIA N;; . p~.r l p
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AG rY'B "fPORI
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
COUNTRY Czcchoclovsk1a
SUBJECT Ecou.omic Foreign-trade planning
HOW
PUBLISHED Monthly periodical
WHERE
PUBLISHED Warsaw
DATE
PUBLISHED Jan 1950
DATE OF
INFORMATION 1950
DATE DIST. 47 Jul 1951
NO. OF PAGES 3
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
Inks H' CUM ENT CONTAINS INFORMATION AFFECTING THE NATIONAL DEFERS!
OF THE UNITED STATES WITHIN THE MEANING OF ESPIONAGE ACT SO
U. S C.. 31 AND SE. AS AMENDED. ITS TRANSMISSION ON THE REVELATION
OF ITS CONTENTS IN ANY MANNER TO AN UNAUTHORIZED PERSON IS FTC
HISITED E1 LAW. REPRODUCTION OF THIS FORM IS PROHIBITED.
G2s.22darka Planowa, Vol V, No 1, 1950..
PREPARING FOREIGN TRADE PLANS IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA
Foreign trade occupies a much more important place in the economic activ-
ities of Czechoslovakia than in any other people's democracy. The recently
issued Instructions on the Preparation of the 1950 Foreign Trade and Interna-
tional Shipments Plan describe two types of plans relating to foreign-trade
activitiest. (a) the foreign-trade and international-shipments plan proper,
and (b) the plans of the central administrations of foreign trade which are
known as monopoly corporations.
The above-mentioned Instructions outline in great detail all matters re-
lating to Czechoslovakia's foreign trade, the purpose of planning in this
field, the forms used in foreign-trade planning, and the planning procedure
itself.
According to these Instructions, the basic purpose of Czechoslovakia's
foreign-trade plan is to determine the volume of goods to be imported and.
which goods are indispensable for the fulfillment of the Five-Year Plan. Ex-
port activities are considered as the channel and the means for procuring for-
eign exchange with which imported goods are to be bought. The volume of goods
exported will also depend on what financial resources are needed for equilib-
rium in the national balance of payments.
The Instructions list the following bodies as having been requested to
prepare foreign-trade plans; (a) central administrations of foreign trade
(monopoly corporations), (b) the Ministry of Foreign Trade, and (c) the State
Planning Office.
Monopoly corporations represent the basic planning units. Their task is
to plan tr?a. transactions involving articles the import or export of which
has been nI-polized, and articles which must be registered (for instance,
antifriction bearings) but do not come under monopoly provisions.
The following are the four phases involved in drawing up foreign-trade
operational plans in Czechoslovakia- (a) assignment of estimate figures,
(b) preparation of drafts ot,,operational plans, (c) approval of the same by
the government and their assignment, and (d) control over the fulfillment of
the plans. ,`''
WFFIDENTIAt
STATE NAW N$RB Utz) INIUuuvn
ARMY AIR IXI FBI
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OOIFIDENTIA1
The Instructions contain provisions regarding matters outlined under (a)
and (b) only.
The annual. estimate figures are the result of the following cooperative
effort! the State Planning Office submits the total estimate figures to the
Ministry of Foreign Trade which, in turn, assigns quotas to each single monop-
oly corporation. The estimate quotas assigned by the Ministry of Foreign
Trade establish the maximum figures for imports and the ratio to be maintained
between imports and exports..
Individual trade enterprises present their specific requirements for
goods to be imported (or exported) to the monopoly corporations. These re-
quirements are to be presented on forms issued especially for this purpose.
The monopoly corporations collect all these forms, examine the requirements
contained therein, compare them with the estimate quotas, and consider them
from var1oucl angles (geographic, commercial, and with regard to the vt,lue of
the goods to be imported).
Once the forms are properly checked, the monopoly corporation turns them
over to the director of the office in charge of drawing up trade budgets. In
case a monopoly corporation finds out that the import or export quotas, or the
ratio between them, cannot be met, this fact must be reported to the Trade De-
pertmen of the State Planning Office and the Ministry of Foreign Trade.
The Mi:ict.ry of Foreign Trade, on the basis of all the material received,
prepares the 1950 ov.;r--all foreign trade plan and subsequently submits it to
the Trade P .rrmen.t of the State Planning Office.. Thus, the latter has at
its disposa.] .i.L data relating to the over-all foreign-trade program and to
its geographic and financial aspects.
A.11 goods are expressed in thousands of crowns according to the following
three types of prices., (a) fixed. prices, i.e., prices on the basis of which
the 1950 foreign trade plan was drawn up; (b) current prices, or prices paid
by m.onopoly corporations to local p:rodu.,:ers for goods to be exported, and
prices paid by distribution trade outlets to the monopoly corporations for
goods imported; current prices are established by the trade budget offices;
and. (c) 1950 foreign-trade prices, i.e., those in effect on 1 September 1949
in trade transactions with foreign countries.
Prices mentioned under (a) and (b) are considered franco Czechosiovakiais
borders, and in case of imported goods include all subsidiary payments and ex.,
penses such as transport, insurance, commission, warehouse, and port fees, etc.
In addition to domestic requirements, the amount of imports and exports is
also determined by such factors as the total foreign exchange available, by
general policy directives, foreign trade trends, etc. Since lower-level plan-,
ning units may not snow of the existence and significance of these factors and
may be guided in drawing up their plans only by their specific import or ex-
port needs, they must be properly advised, from the very beginning of their
planning activities, as to the general directives and orientation of their
plans and the ratio to be established between exports and imports. The esti-
mated quotas assigned by higher planning units to lower planning units (i.e.,
monopoly corporations) are intended to eliminate these inconveniences. The
estimated quotas, in fact, determine the ratio between imports and exports,
outline foreign-trade trends, etc.
The Instructions also specify the scope, subject matter, and planning
procedure to be followed in the field of international shipments. The "Met-
rans" Corporation is the basic planning unit for this purpose and comes imme-
diately under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Trade.
CONFIDENTIAL
OORFIBENT ? A?
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Go 9
Co FIDENTLrt~_
"Metrans" will prepare the 1950 international-shipments plan on the basis
of requirements received from individual monopoly corporations. The latter
are to list on their application forms the following data: the type of mer-
chandise to be shipped, the country of its origin and of its destination, the
aggregate tonnage for the year, the shipping routes, means of shipment, and
the estimated costs in Czechoslovak currency of land and sea Shipment, etc.
The "Metrans" Corporation will prepare, on the basis of the available
data, a draft if a plan outlining the best directions and means of delivery.
This draft will be delivered to the Trade Department of the State Planning Of-
fice and to the Ministry of Foreign Trade. After a thorough examination of the
the draft, the Ministry of Foreign grade will present its opinion to the State
Planning Office. The procedure adopted for drawing up the international-
shipments plan also applies to the 1950 plan for dispatching international
shipments.
In addition to preparing drafts of plans to serve for drawing up an over-
all plan for foreign trade, foreign shipments, and dispatching foreign ship-
ments, the monopoly corporations are also required to draw up their own oper-
ational plans. These plans must specify all data concerning the functions,
needs, requirements, and means of the monopoly corporations. This data is to
be transmitted to the Ministry of Foreign Trade, which, after thorough study,
sends the plan to the Trade Department of the State Planning Office.
The operational plans of the monopoly corporations will consist of the
following sections: introduction, so-called trade-transactions plan, manpower-
requirements plan, goods-requirements plan, investment plan, and financial
plan. The operational plans of the monopoly corporations are to provide a de-
tailed explanation and justification of items included in each of the above-
mentioned sections of the plan.
50X1-HUM
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