Social Infrastructure of Soviet Enterprises in the 1950s-1980s: Sources and Mechanisms of Financing (Example of Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant)

Abstract

The Sources and Mechanisms of Financing the Social Infrastructure of the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant in the 1950s-1980s. This study examines the sources and mechanisms of financing the social infrastructure of the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant, a large Soviet industrial enterprise, during the period of 1950s-1980s. The research is based on archival documents from the plant and its trade union organization, which are stored in the United State Archive of the Chelyabinsk Region. It was found that the plant had a significant amount of assets, including housing and a network of social, cultural, and sports facilities. Financing the social infra-structure of Soviet enterprises was a complex system that involved multiple independent sources. The plant made direct payments from its economic stimulation funds, covered the maintenance costs of various facilities transferred to the trade union organization, and covered losses from the housing and communal services system. In addition, funding for these facilities also came from the state budget, social insurance budget, trade union organization budget, targeted subsidies from the All-Russian Central Council of Trade Unions, revenues from self-supporting cultural and sports institutions, and others. The Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant was required to allocate up to 10 % of its profits towards maintaining its social infra-structure, while other sources of funding con-tributed comparable amounts.