V. I.

Lenin

671

To:   L. B. KRASIN

Top secret

Comrade Krasin

Comrade Krasin:

You told me at one of our latest meetings that you had had a talk with an English merchant about setting up a
mixed society for the sale of precious stones, etc.

Please write me a few lines: has this plan produced anything? The same concerning Germany.

Then I ask you to answer this question: can you order from anyone a short (not more than 2 or 3 pages) summary
of actual data characterising the development of our foreign
trade over the last few months, for instance, over the last
6 months. I would find such a thing extremely necessary for
my report at the Party
Congress. [1]

Here is a rough list of the questions:

The number of trade treaties with other powers, stating
the month and year of their conclusion.

The number of mixed societies set up for trade with the
capitalists of various nations.

The monthly turnover of exports and imports in pre-war rubles over the last few months.

Orders and imports with a division into foodstuffs and items of industrial equipment.

The number of merchants enlisted by the People’s
Commissariat for Foreign Trade on a commission basis, Russian and foreign separately,
etc. [2]

With communist greetings, Lenin