The Effect of Filled Counters. Overcoming the Commodity Deficit in Russia in the 1990s and its Social Consequences

Abstract

The sharp aggravation of the supply crisis in the USSR and Russia in the late 1980s and early 1990s was the most critical factor in discrediting the planned economy and in transitioning to a market system. Among the symbols of the socio-economic contradictions of the Soviet economy there were an infamously known deficit, shortage of food and industrial goods, and queues in shops. Overcoming the deficit was declared an essential goal of reforms and the transition to the free market. However, despite the dramatic reduction of consumption after the liberalization of prices, the shortage of goods persisted. It was only three years after the reforms started that the signs of overcoming the deficit appeared. This fact was an essential positive result of the reforms. It was widely used in the governmental propaganda and was positively perceived by society. At the same time, the way deficit was overcome, in particular, the saturation of the market by increasing imports rather than domestic production, has created new contradictions. There was an acute problem of the real availability and quality of goods. The article considers several issues based on published and archival materials. What was the phenomenon of commodity deficit in the context of price liberaliza-tion? How and by what methods was the saturation of the market with goods organized? To what extent did the pro-cesses reflect in mass sentiments? How was overcoming the deficit used as an argument in political propaganda?doi 10.17072/2219-3111-2019-3-5-14