The Economic Situation in Romania in the Early 1950s According to Documents from the Russian Archives

The article presents Soviet assessments of Romania's economic situation in the early 1950s. Based on documents from the Russian archives, the sources of information received in Moscow on the state of the Romanian economy and the main economic problems have been identified. According to the documents, the personnel policy, the activities of mixed Soviet-Romanian enterprises («sovroms»), the effectiveness of economic management etc. were in the field of view of Soviet observers and experts. There was also a question about the objectivity of the information received. Special attention is paid to economic projects, the need for which was prompted by the Soviet leadership and personally by Joseph Stalin, such as the monetary reform of 1952 and the construction of the Danube–Black Sea canal. The past reassessment of the importance of the «Soviet factor» in the process of the country's socialist industrialization in modern Romania and the relevance of turning to the study of bilateral Soviet-Romanian economic relations are noted, given the strong influence of politicized assessments on the public consciousness of these countries.