The birth date of the Altai Union of Cooperatives is considered to be May 4, 1915—this is when the partnership agreement was signed. Notably, Altai cooperators, who until that moment had been part of the Siberian Union of Butter-Making Artels, withdrew from it due to violations of cooperative principles and cooperative democracy, and because of the policies pursued by the board of the Siberian Union in 1912–1915. The resolution of the meeting of authorized representatives of the Barnaul branch of the Siberian Union stated: “In order to realize our ideals of cooperation, to withdraw from the membership of the Siberian Union of Butter-Making Artels, to create our own union—a new one, and to give it an appropriate name.”
The Altai Union of Cooperatives included 14 consumer societies, 74 butter-making artels, and 4 artel shops. As early as the following year, 1916, the number of consumer societies increased significantly—to 132, and the number of butter-producing artels—to 118.
Beginning in 1918, the Union underwent repeated reorganizations, and its property was both looted and seized by the state, and transferred to various agencies. On January 27, 1920, the Altai Central Credit Union joined the Altai Union of Cooperatives; this is how the united gubernia union came into being—the Gubernia Union of Workers’ and Peasants’ Consumer Societies.