After the collapse of the Soviet Union, some "interesting" facts about the activities of the CPSU became known. One of the high-profile incidents was the disappearance of the party's gold reserves. In the early nineties, a variety of versions appeared in the media. The more publications there were, the more rumors spread about the mysterious disappearance of the values of the CPSU.
Gold in Tsarist Russia
One of the main factors determining the stability in the country is the presence and size of the state gold reserves. By 1923, the USSR had 400 tons of state gold, and by 1928 - 150 tons. For comparison: when Nicholas II ascended the throne, the gold reserve was estimated at 800 million rubles, and by 1987 - at 1095 million. Then a monetary reform was carried out that filled the ruble with gold content.
From the beginning of the twentieth century, reserves began to deplete: Russia was preparing for the Russo-Japanese war, was defeated in it, and then there was a revolution. By 1914, the gold reserves were restored. During the First World War and after it, gold was sold (andat dumping prices), pledged to creditors, moving into their territory.
Stock recovery
The Soyuzzoloto Trust was established in 1927. Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin personally supervised gold mining in the USSR. The industry rose, but the young state did not become the leader in the extraction of valuable metal. True, by 1941 the USSR's gold reserves amounted to 2,800 tons, exceeding twice the tsar's. The state stock has reached a historical maximum. It was this gold that made it possible to win the Great Patriotic War and restore the ruined economy.
Gold reserves of the USSR
Joseph Stalin left his successor about 2,500 tons of state gold. After Nikita Khrushchev, 1,600 tons remained, after Leonid Brezhnev - 437 tons. Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko slightly increased the gold reserves, the "stash" amounted to 719 tons. In October 1991, the vice-premier of the Russian Soviet Socialist Republic stated that 290 tons of valuable metal remained. This gold (together with debts) passed to the Russian Federation. Vladimir Putin received it in the amount of 384 tons.
Gold value
Until 1970, the price of gold was one of the most stable parameters in the world. The US government regulated the price within the framework of 35 dollars per troy ounce. From 1935 to 1970, America's gold reserves were rapidly declining, so it was decided that the national currency would no longer be backed by gold. After that (that is, since 1971), the price of gold began to rise rapidly. After the price spike, the price dropped slightly, reaching $330 an ounce in 1985.
The cost of gold in the Land of the Soviets was not determined by the world market. How much did a gram of gold cost in the USSR? The price was approximately 50-56 rubles per gram for metal of 583 samples. Pure gold was bought at a price of up to 90 rubles per gram. On the black market, a dollar could be bought for 5-6 rubles, so the cost of one gram did not exceed 1.28 dollars until the seventies. Thus, the cost of an ounce of gold in the USSR was a little over $36.
The myth of party gold
Gold of the party is called the hypothetical gold and foreign exchange funds of the CPSU, which allegedly disappeared after the collapse of the USSR and have not yet been found. The myth of the existence of untold we alth of the leaders of the Union became popular in the media in the early nineties. The reasons for the increased interest in this issue was the participation of the leaders of the Communist Party in privatization, while most of the country's population was below the poverty line.
The first publication on this issue is the book "Corrupt Russia" by Andrey Konstantinov. The author gives the following possible scheme for the receipt of funds to the "black cash desk" of the party on the example of the scheme that was revealed during the inspection of the party organization Lenrybholodflot.
Thus, the prosecutor's office found that high wages resulted in significant contributions to the party fund. At the same time, double statements were used, and most of the funds were sent to higher authorities, that is, first to the regional committee, and then to Moscow. The incident was settled with the participation of high-ranking party officials.
Where did the USSR gold go?Many public and political figures de alt with this issue: Russian writer Alexander Bushkov, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Gennady Osipov, international observer Leonid Mlechin, chairman of the KGB of the USSR and Yuri Andropov's closest associate Vladimir Kryuchkov, dissident historian Mikhail Geller and others. The experts did not come to an unambiguous conclusion about the existence of party money and their whereabouts.
Three suicides in a row
At the end of August 1991, Nikolai Kruchina, the head of the CPSU, fell out of the window. The chief treasurer of the party was considered close to Mikhail Gorbachev. More than a month later, Georgy Pavlov, Brezhnev's ally, Nikolai Kruchina's predecessor in office, died in a similar way. He held this position for eighteen years. Of course, these two people were aware of party affairs.
A few days later, Dmitry Lissovolik, the head of the department of the Central Committee, which de alt with the American sector, fell out of the window of his own apartment. This department carried out communications with foreign parties. The death of three officials at once, who were well aware of the financial activities of the Communist Party, gave rise to a legend about the existence of USSR gold, which disappeared in the last year of the existence of the state of peasants and workers.
Was there gold
The Communist Party ruled the state for 74 years. At first it was an elite organization, consisting of a few thousand chosen ones, but towards the end of its existence, the Communist Party grew thousands of times. In 1990the number of officials was almost 20 million people. All of them regularly paid party dues, which amounted to the treasury of the CPSU.
Some part of the funds went to the salary fund for the nomenklatura workers, but how much money was really in the treasury and how was it spent? This was known only to a select few, among whom were the mysteriously deceased Dmitry Lisovolik, Nikolai Kruchina and Georgy Pavlov. This important information has been carefully hidden from prying eyes.
The Communist Party received considerable income from publishing. Literature was published in huge editions. The most minimal estimates indicate that the party's treasury received hundreds of millions of rubles every month.
No less big money accumulated in the Peace Defense Fund. Ordinary citizens and the church voluntarily-compulsorily made deductions there. The fund was a non-profit organization, but the actual was under the control of the same communist party. The Peace Foundation has not published any financial statements, but (according to rough estimates) its budget was 4.5 billion rubles.
The problem of transition to state ownership
It was from the funds listed above that the gold of the party was formed. How much gold was in the USSR? It is impossible to even roughly estimate the assets of the USSR. When Yeltsin, after the putsch, issued a decree on the transfer of the property of the party to the property of the state, it turned out that this was impossible to do. The court ruled that the uncertainty of ownership of property under managementparty, does not allow the CPSU to be recognized as its owners.
Where did the gold go
Where is the gold of the USSR? There was a rather serious attitude to the search for the party fund. The existence of the party gold was more than just an urban legend or a newspaper scoop. In those difficult conditions in which Russia found itself in 1991-1992 and beyond, there was an urgent need for party money.
The State Bank first published information on the amount of gold in 1991. It turned out that only 240 tons remained. This shocked Western experts, who estimated the reserves of gold from the times of the USSR at 1-3 thousand tons. But it turned out that even Venezuela has more valuable metal than the Land of the Soviets.
Simple explanation
Immediately after the official publication of data on the amount of gold reserves, rumors spread that the party treasury was secretly taken to Switzerland. This process was led, of course, by the top leaders of the Communist Party. Later, a very simple explanation was found for the depletion of the precious metal.
The fact is that in the last years of the USSR, the government actively received loans secured by gold. The state was in dire need of a currency, the flow of which was interrupted due to a sharp drop in oil prices and the collapse of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance.
Party - not state
Besides, the gold, of which 240 tons remained, was state-owned, not party-owned. Here you need to remember that in the days of the USSR the party borrowed funds from the state treasury, but the state treasury from the budgetcommunist parties are not. Both Western detectives and the Russian prosecutor's office were looking for a party reserve. Small amounts were found in official accounts, but they were much less than expected. I had to be content only with real estate, which was privatized.
Versions of Western experts
Searchs for the mysterious party gold were also carried out in the West. The government used the services of the world famous agency Kroll. The staff of the organization included former intelligence officers, accountants who worked in famous companies, and other experts. The firm was looking for money from Saddam Hussein, dictator Duvalier (Haiti) and Marcos (Philippines).
Shortly after the conclusion of the treaty, the Americans sent the Russian government materials that featured high-ranking statesmen from the Soviet era, but there was no specifics. The leaders of Russia decided to abandon the services of Kroll. This was motivated by significant monetary costs to pay for the services of the agency. The Russian treasury in difficult years would not have sustained such expenses.
So where is the money
Obviously, the Communist Party had an impressive cash register and managed the money of some organizations. But where is the money of the USSR? It is unlikely that billions of rubles could have been withdrawn abroad, although some of the money could indeed have gone there.
USSR had a sufficient number of banks abroad. Some were engaged in servicing foreign trade operations, others worked as ordinary private banks. Branches were located in London,Paris, Singapore, Zurich and several other cities.
Through these banks it was possible to withdraw money, but their employees were foreigners, so it was extremely risky to conduct such operations. Yes, and it is these financial institutions that would be the first to be checked if they were seriously looking for party money.
Plausible version
Most likely, the gold of the USSR remained in the USSR itself, that is, in circulation. The Law on Cooperation of 1988 allowed citizens to conduct commercial activities, but people did not have the initial capital for this. The Party paved the way by its own example. The following year, the first private banks began to open. But where did the Soviet people get such money from? This despite the fact that the authorized capital of the fund of the Soviet bank was supposed to have at least 5 million rubles. Here, too, the Communist Party helped.
The main windfall was, of course, international activity, which for a long time remained the monopoly of the CPSU. In the late eighties, private organizations entered the field. But foreign trade relations were supervised by the party and power structures. Rubles were exchanged at a low rate for foreign currency, and then inexpensive equipment was purchased for this money. Most often, computers were imported, for which there was simply a huge demand.
So, the party gold did exist. But these are underground gold vaults or planes loaded to the brim with banknotes. Some of the money could be pocketed by statesmen and public figures, butthese were hardly really significant sums. Most of the money just turned into paper in 1992. But really the real gold was the leverage that allowed the leaders to form capital for themselves in the last years of the USSR.
