Comrade Beria.

As you know, from the address of the CC and the Council of Ministers on rations we removed the last paragraph on the prohibition of wage increases and so forth, having decided to publish the content of this paragraph in the form of a separate resolution of the CC VKP(b) and the Council of Ministers. I ask you to send a draft of such a resolution with the provision that the propositions contained in it be under no circumstances softened but, on the contrary, be made as stringent as possible.

Stalin.

Politburo TsK VKP(b) i Sovet Ministrov SSSR. 1945-1953. Moscow, 2002. P. 210.
RGASPI. F. 558. Op. 11. D. 156. L. 47.

Note.
On September 6, 1946, the Politburo approved the "Communication of the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the Central Committee of the VKP(b) to Soviet and Party leading organizations." It stated that, in connection with unfavorable climatic conditions that caused drought, the 1946 grain procurements were 200 million puds less "than could have been expected with an average harvest," and therefore "the abolition of the rationing system for foodstuffs must be postponed from 1946 to 1947."

The communication announced the adoption of a resolution by the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the CC VKP(b) on raising prices for foodstuffs distributed by ration cards (bread, flour, groats, meat, butter, fish, sugar, salt) by 2–3 times, and on reducing commercial prices for industrial goods.

In connection with this, low-paid workers and employees (with a wage of no more than 900 rubles per month), non-working pensioners and families of servicemen receiving allowances, and students were provided monetary supplements.

The last paragraph in the draft communication read: "Finally, the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the CC have deemed it necessary to prohibit from September 16 of this year any direct or indirect increase in established salaries and wage rates in enterprises, institutions, on transport, in state farms, MTS, trade, public and other institutions and organizations, and also to prohibit any increase in the established norms of food supply by ration cards and norms of counter-sale of goods."

This paragraph was crossed out when the communication was approved by the Politburo (RGASPI. F. 17. Op. 163. D. 1489. L. 4-14). That same day Beria presented Stalin with the requested draft with the following accompanying note (Ibid. D. 1490. L. 71):
"To Comrade Stalin.
In accordance with your instruction, I submit for your approval a draft resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Union of SSR and the CC VKP(b) on the prohibition of wage increases and norms of food and manufactured-goods supply in state, cooperative and public enterprises, institutions and organizations.
The draft resolution was developed jointly with Comrades Mikoyan, Malenkov, Kosygin, Zverev, Lyubimov (Ministry of Trade of the USSR), Saburov (Gosplan).
12-IX-46. L. Beria."
The Politburo approved this resolution on September 16, 1946 (Ibid. L. 70).