Upvote:4
Well, the accounts claim one could get all necessary papers for an artel in just one day. The management of the artel should be elected by the employees. By the 1941 enactment the new artel was for two years exempt from most taxes and state price control, except that the prices should not exceed the state prices more than 10-13%. Artels were allowed to buy raw materials by fixed prices.
Overall by the beginning of 1950s there were 114000 artels with about 2 million employees. They made up to 6% of GDP, including 40% of all furniture, 70% of metallic tableware, more than a third of knitted wear and hosiery, nearly all toys.
Artels owned about a hundred of R&D bureaus, 22 testing labs and two research institutes.
Artels pioneered production of the Soviet lamp-based radio receivers and CRT televisions.
During the war artels produced weapons and ammunition such as Sudayev machineguns and artillery shells.