The USSR was the only or almost the only state where a person from the people could take a place at the very top, become one of the most influential people not only in a particular country, but throughout the world. Of course, the question of the salaries of the leaders of such a country interested and continues to interest many.
1. V. I. Lenin
According to information that has come down to our time, Vladimir Ilyich, who headed the Russian government, which was called the Council of People's Commissars, had a salary of 500 rubles. per month.
By the way, according to the minimum payment established in 1919 in Moscow, this amount was one hundred rubles less. According to the law, a worker could not receive a salary below 600 rubles. The maximum salary of administrative and technical workers was no more than three thousand rubles.
On September 20, 1919, in his income statement, Lenin indicated that for 1918 his income as a whole was equal to 27,049 rubles. In addition to his salary in the Council of People's Commissars, he was the head of the Council of Workers 'and Peasants' Defense, received royalties for the essays and articles written by him, and was a member of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.
The civil war led to hyperinflation, and this amount was very small in those conditions. To understand, one should take into account the cost of some products in the capital at that time: salt - 18 thousand rubles. for 1 pood, flour - 10 thousand rubles. for 1 pood, bread - 260 rubles. for 1 pound, potatoes - 95 rubles. for 1 lb.
Of course, in the periphery, products cost ten to fifteen times cheaper, but people could not afford a lot. Everywhere there was poverty, hunger, there was an increase in crime. By the way, the head of state was not entitled to additional payments and bonuses at that time, as well as clothes with food on a free basis.
2. I. V. Stalin
At the very beginning of his political activity, as in the case of other party members, Iosif Vissarionovich received a small salary - only 225 rubles. Closer to 1930, the salary increased to 500 rubles. At that time, the average wage was 300 rubles.
Already in 1936, Stalin raised the Secretary General's salary to the amount of 1,200 rubles. per month. Then he had the highest salary in the state. In 1947, a monetary reform was carried out, after which the salary of the leader of the USSR increased to 10,000 rubles. with an average salary of 1,000 rubles. Although, in fact, in principle, he did not need a salary, since he was fully supported by the state.
3. N. S. Khrushchev
As Nikita Sergeevich himself recalled, in his high post at first he was financially worse off than when he worked as an ordinary locksmith. Then the thought was not allowed that a communist could have his own dacha, high wages and other privileges.
But in the post of general secretary, everything changed. Khrushchev appointed himself a salary in the amount of 8,000 rubles. Of course, this was less than Stalin received, but much more than ordinary people earned. After another monetary reform took place in 1961, he began to receive 800 rubles.
4. L. I. Brezhnev
By the time Leonid Ilyich became the head of state, modesty, equality and other ideas had already faded into the background and they began to be forgotten. The official salary of Brezhnev did not exceed 800 rubles, but he also received the Lenin Prize - an additional 25,000 rubles.
The engineer at that time received 150-300 rubles, teachers - 140 rubles, and nurses generally 80 rubles. As for the average grocery basket, it was 40 rubles. Plus, Brezhnev received royalties for his works. The circulation of "Renaissance", "Virgin lands" and "Malaya Zemlya" was 15,000,000 copies each. None of the writers of not only the country, but also the planet has not reached such a scale.
The exact amount of income cannot be named, but it was not just thousands of rubles, but hundreds of thousands. But this was not enough. Closer to 1974, Brezhnev increased his official salary and began to receive 1,300 rubles, and four years later - about one and a half thousand. Naturally, there were dozens of expensive cars in his garage.
5. Yu. V. Andropov
Previously head of the KGB, he appointed more modest salaries for himself and those close to him. The general secretary again began to receive 800 rubles. But Yuri Vladimirovich was also actively distributing his own books, and this is an additional 12,000 rubles.
6. K. U. Chernenko
Konstantin Ustinovich headed the USSR from 1984-13-02 to 1985-10-03 and had a salary of one and a half thousand rubles. In addition, he also concealed party money. Nobody knows the exact amounts.
7. M. S. Gorbachev
The last head of the Soviet Union was a notable bribe-taker. For a number of actions, such as the provision of state territories to neighboring countries, trade deals, and so on, he received not $ 1,000,000, but dozens.
Administrative activity was already then a constant and rich source of money. But Mikhail Sergeevich's official salary was small - 500 rubles, like Vladimir Ilyich had in his time. Before the Soviet Union collapsed, it was increased to three thousand.
Continuing the topic read, why at the meeting Stalin sat down to his own report, and for which he was grateful to the architect M. I. Merzhanov.