Corruption in the Soviet Union

Corruption in the Soviet Union and Soviet Russia was observed since the early days of the Soviet Russia and until the last days of the Soviet Union. Corruption happened at all levels of positions of power, including political corruption.

History

Early years

Already on May 2, 1918, Moscow Revtribunal heard the case of four members of the Investigative Committee accused of bribery and blackmailing.^[1]^[2]^[3] On May 8, 1918, the "Decree on Bribery" was signed by Lenin, which punished both givers and takers.^[4]^[5]

In February 1920, a special commission, Rabkrin (People's Commissariat of the Workers' and Peasants' Inspection) was set to combat two major plagues, inefficiency and corruption at all levels of administration.^[a]

Breshnev and later

Corruption at highest levels had grown considerably during Brezhnev's tenure had become a major problem to the Soviet Union's economic development by the 1980s. When Andropov came to power, he initiated a nationwide anti-corruption campaign.

Notable cases

Khrushchev era

Brezhnev era

Vasil Mzhavanadze, Georgian high party functionary, publicly accused of corruption, but left without criminal prosecution
Soviet fish mafia
Soviet fur mafia
Uzbek cotton scandal; investigations continued well into the late 1980s, during Breshnev's, Andropov's and Gorbachev's times

Andropov

Yeliseyevsky [ru] case (Russian: Елисеевское дело, also known as the Mosprodtorg case, Russian: дела Моспродторга); large-scale theft/misappropriation of foodstuff goods and bribery^[6]
Technopromexport case ended in executions of its director Yuri P. Smelyakov and his deputy V.A. Pavlov ^[7]
Nikolai Shchelokov

Gorbachev era

Brezhnev's family, Yuri, Galina and Yuri Churbanov, were investigated for corruption during Mikhail Gorbachev's administration.^[8] Churbanov was sentenced to twelve years in prison on charges of large-scale embezzlement and corruption in the context of the Uzbek cotton scandal. By December 1988 Churbanov had been stripped of all state honours, and sent to a labour camp. Galina, along with the rest of Brezhnev's family, lost all their state privileges.
1990-1993: ANT case about alleged smuggling of T-72 tanks abroad

Notes

^ In 1934 Rabkrin was superseded by the People's Control Commission of the Council of People's Commissars. Furter control organs: Stalin's CPSU Party Control Committee; Khrushchev merged it into the Committee of Party-State Control of the Central Committee of the CPSU and of the Council of Ministers of the USSR under Alexander Shelepin.

References

^ Liu Xianzhong, 苏联时期的腐败及其成因 (Corruption and its causes during the Soviet era)
^ Pavel Sorokun, Исторический очерк возникновения и развития взяточничества и коррупции в России
^ Часть 1. Коррупция в России, from Report "РОССИЯ И КОРРУПЦИЯ: КТО КОГО"
^ Декрет о взяточничестве
^ Финогентова Ольга Евгеньевна, Понятие взятки и ответственность за нее в советском законодательстве 1918-1926 гг
^ Бриллианты и икра
^ "2 High Soviet Officials Are Executed For Graft". The New York Times. 14 January 1984. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
^ Geldern, James von. "Our Little Father". Soviethistory.org. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 4 February 2011.