Socialist measures in the economy were expressed in the fact that industry and trade were nationalized and placed under the authority of special central bodies led by the Supreme Council of the National Economy (VSNKh). At factories and plants there was no raw material, fuel, or labor. Most skilled workers were employed in various responsible posts, and some moved to the countryside to escape hunger.
The remaining workers were bound by an almost military discipline. Each violation entailed a fine or even arrest. Because of this, and also because of the food problem, unrest and strikes arose. Small-scale industry was under the jurisdiction of provincial and district councils of the national economy. Output in all branches steadily declined.
The population was reluctant to sell agricultural products. Without exchange for salt, matches, soap, and the like, nothing could be obtained. In violation of existing laws, private trade was widely and openly practiced, with banknotes accepted only as a last resort. The countless quantities of paper issued completely devalued money; all enterprises and government bodies existed at the expense of newly issued banknotes. No credit operations were conducted; the State Bank was abolished.
The railways worked poorly. Trains ran irregularly, and rolling stock was in a deplorable condition. Medical care in the cities was insufficient, in the countryside it was almost absent, and there were no medicines. Former privately owned estates lay in neglect, although state farms were organized in them. In general, the national economy was ruined, and no improvements were noticeable in anything.
EPO branches took over the distribution of bread and the organization of canteens. Because of difficulties with fuel, interruptions in bread baking were frequent, and canteens even had to be closed. By that time the ration-card system had not yet been introduced throughout Crimea, although a food census had already been carried out everywhere. In some places EPO organized kitchen gardens, having obtained the necessary equipment from the provincial union. In Yalta and Bakhchisarai, orchards were under the authority of EPO, and in Simferopol the supply of milk for children passed under consumer cooperation.
Of the 15 city EPOs, the strongest was the Simferopol one (organized in November 1920). The board included most of the members of the board of the workers' cooperative "Tovarishch" that existed at that time. A supervisory committee was also formed, which began to inventory the goods held by the cooperative. The main task was to create shop-distributors. By 20 December 1920, 20 distribution points were ready to open. By 1 February 1921, their number had reached 83. From this time, bread baking, public catering, and the distribution of products passed to the consumer societies. The Simferopol EPO had 12 bakeries and 38 canteens (more than 15,000 diners were supplied through the EPO). By the end of April there were already 33 bakeries and 91 canteens. From 1 February to 1 May 1921, up to 135,000 poods of bread were baked and distributed, and rations of various products totaling up to 100,000 poods were issued.
In 1921, 29 consumer associations were registered in the Simferopol EPO. The total commodity fund was estimated at 500 million rubles (funds were extremely insufficient). Turnover was also insignificant. Overall, the difficult situation by the end of the year forced the EPO board to begin cutting staff (from 800 people as of 1 July to 90). The barter point, the soap-making plant, the shoe workshop, and several canteens were closed.
On 4 August 1922, the city workers' conference resolved to merge all cooperatives into a single Central Workers' Cooperative (TsRK). In carrying out this consolidation, all groups (two more were added to the first four) pushed the question of the commercial benefit of the merger into the background. As a result, it became necessary to cover the deficits of some cooperatives at the expense of the surpluses of others. This, of course, negatively affected the consolidated balance sheet of the merged cooperatives. In the consolidated balance of 40,000 rubles, only 28% consisted of real values that could serve as working capital. The remaining 72% consisted of immovable, conditional, or negative values (debts owed by various persons and institutions). With such means, from August 1922 the new central workers' cooperative "Tovarishch" began serving the city population.
In the winter of 1923, the TsRK had three bakeries producing up to 400 poods of bread per day, a shoemaking workshop producing up to 600 pairs of footwear per month, a collective farm with a cultivated orchard, and a 57-desyatina vegetable garden.
The pricing policy was based on the principle of preserving commodity value, i.e., pricing that took into account the continuing fall of the ruble exchange rate. However, thanks to minimal organizational and other expenses, the average markup did not exceed 20%, and prices compared with the private market were always 20–30% lower. The net profit resulting from the markup system as of 1 January 1923 amounted to 3.5% of working capital, with all other expenses at 16.7%. Expenses included 23% to the insurance committee, 4% to trade unions, 1% for cultural and educational work, and one-time sums for the maintenance of a patronized military unit. Thus, the generally insufficient difference from market prices was compensated by these expense items aimed at an overall improvement in the condition of the national economy. A more tangible reduction in prices for consumers could occur only on condition of a general economic upswing. Above all, it was necessary to stop the fall of the ruble.
At the all-Crimean conference of workers' cooperation on 18 June 1923, certain results were summed up. Workers' cooperatives in Crimea had at that time 17,000 members receiving products at 28 distribution points. The most successful was the Simferopol cooperative "Tovarishch," which had 5,780 members.
In March 1924, the Simferopol and Sevastopol workers' cooperatives were admitted as full members of Tsentrosoyuz. This made it possible to obtain factory goods directly from producers, bypassing intermediaries. Tsentrosoyuz established for the Simferopol TsRK "Tovarishch" a permanent credit of 80,000 rubles in gold. In addition, on credit for a term of 75 days, a railcar of haberdashery and grocery goods was released, as well as a railcar of new summer textiles (an arshin of calico cost 30 kopecks). Haberdashery and textile goods were sold to members of the Simferopol TsRK with payment deferred for two months.
In March 1924, the TsRK "Tovarishch" reduced prices in its distribution outlets for absolutely all goods and, having obtained at the State Bank, with the help of Vsekobank? a credit of 20,000 rubles in gold, began to set up a meat trade.
In the summer of 1926, the Simferopol TsRK "Tovarishch" marked the fourth anniversary of its work. Created from the collapsed local EPO and the failed consumer associations, "Tovarishch" had 102 members and a balance of 40,000 rubles, of which only 28% represented real value. Its own funds were no more than 12,000 rubles; for almost three years even borrowed capital to a significant extent was tied up in immovable values.
Only for accounting for member goods withdrawal 1 Kopeck 1929.
Simferopol Central Workers’ Cooperative (SCWC) “Comrade”.
