V. I.

Lenin

485

To:   P. A. BOGDANOV

Comrade Bogdanov

Copies to Comrades Khinchuk and Radchenko

Comrade Bogdanov:

Steinberg’s “concession” (buying up of hides and skins plus import of commodity-exchange fund from abroad) is
being examined, as I beard in the C.L.D. yesterday, in the S.E.C. Commission for
Utilisation. [1]

Strictly speaking, it is not a concession in the usual sense of the word, and both the People’s Commissariat for
Foreign Trade and Centrosoyuz must be brought in for its
examination (especially since Khinchuk declared yesterday
that he takes a negative view of Steinberg).

Be sure to have Khinchuk take part in the discussion, and, while we are about it, let’s think over a statute for
a somewhat different make-up of commissions to discuss “this type” of
“concession”. [2]

V. Ulyanov (Lenin )

Chairman, C.L.D.

---
Notes:
[1]
The Commission for the Utilisation of Material Resources was set
up by a C.P.C. decree of November 21, 1918, under the S.E.C. A
C.P.C. decision of March 17, 1921, transferred the Commission
to the competence of the C.L.D. It was the highest authority for
the distribution of material resources, and its decisions entered
into force unless protested against in the C.L.D. within three
days of the decision and rescinded by the C.L.D. All the
departments had the duty to submit well-founded estimates for
consideration by the Commission. See this volume, Document 526.

[2]

“ Concession agreement for the collection and trade in hides and skins with P. B. Steinberg ” was submitted by the S.E.C. for the
C.P.C.’s approval on November 21, 1921. On November 29, the
C.P.C. instructed a commission, consisting of V. V. Gombarg,
A. M. Lezhava and A. L. Scheinman, to review the agreement
and to continue talks with the other party. For the decision on
this question Lenin made the following proposals by way of
directives for the commission: = “α) amount of duties (the point is
crossed out and is not included in the decision.— Ed. ); = β)
checkup on the actual amount, of leather procured by the People’s
Commissariat for Foreign Trade up to now... = γ) check-up on the
possible and probable development of operations by the People’s
Commissariat for Foreign Trade and Centrosoyuz, given the
expenditure of a definite amount of bank-notes” ( Lenin Miscellany XXIII , p. 187). After repeated discussion, the C.P.C. on January

10, 1922, rejected the concession and authorised a specially
appointed commission to work out a statute for organising the
procurement of hides and skins at home on shareholding principles.
On January 24, the C.P.C. approved the basis of the draft rules
of the “Joint-Stock Company for Domestic and Export Trade in
Hides and Skins” (“Kozhsyryo”). On February 1, 1922, the C.L.D.
approved the rules of the Company and its articles of association.
See this volume, Documents 515 and 589.