Combating economic crime in Ukraine in 1946–1949

Abstract

The author examines the topical and insufficiently researched in historical and legal science issue of the causes and manifestations of economic crime in Ukraine in the first post-war years (1946–1949) and the main aspects of police activity in combating these types of crimes. The departments for combating theft of socialist property and speculation were responsible for combating economic crime. In 1947, the Department for combating the theft of socialist property of the Main Police Department was reorganised into the Administration. Taking advantage of the consumer goods shortage, which reached its peak in the first post-war years (1946–1949), and the circumstances created by the famine of 1946–1947, criminals stole grain, robbed food and industrial warehouses, and resold goods at inflated prices (speculation). The situation with economic crime was particularly difficult in early 1947, when the sowing campaign was underway. The most common crimes were the following: 1) maliciously delaying the repair of agricultural machinery, allegedly due to the lack of spare parts and specialists; 2) theft of grain during its transportation and sowing by persons responsible for this (weighers, field crew leaders, guards); 3) theft of seeds and fuel by security guards; 4) theft and embezzlement of seeds by officials of collective and state farms and subsidiary farms; 5) theft of seed by reducing the seeding rate and theft of fuel due to lack of control over its consumption; 6) theft of seeds by employees of storage facilities with their subsequent resale at markets at speculative prices; 7) creation of surplus seeds by weighing, moistening, writing off for drying, and increasing waste during sorting. The monetary reform in December 1947 and the abolition of the ration card system reduced the overall number of crimes related to the theft of socialist property to a certain extent, as these measures eliminated such crimes as speculation in food and commodity cards and the production of counterfeit cards and food coupons. In order to improve the situation, the Ministry of Internal Affairs demanded that work on the theft of socialist property be intensified on the ground, and that more active agent work be carried out in this area.