O.V. Khlevniuk's research is devoted to a topical subject – corruption in the USSR, which was actually the second, shadow economy. The object of the study is the criminal activity of a certain N. M. Pavlenko, who managed to organise and manage construction enterprises for several years. O. V. Khlevniuk describes in detail and carefully analyses the criminal activity of a certain N. M. Pavlenko, who managed to create and manage illegal construction enterprises for several years. He created a front organisation – the Military Construction Directorate (MCD) No. 1 and No. 10, which was subordinate to the Military Ministry. In addition, Pavlenko illegally assigned military ranks to himself and his closest associates. From 1948 to 1952 the UBC was engaged in the construction of highways and railways in several republics of the USSR. During construction various semi-legal, illegal and fraudulent schemes were used to withdraw money and obtain illegal profits, appropriation of construction equipment. The scale of the fraudster's activities is striking. According to the author, the amount of orders totalled several tens of millions of roubles. O. V. Khlevniuk analyses the workings of this organisation and the subsequent and the subsequent exposure of the adventurers. The author also focuses on the phenomenon of imposture, which he defines as a way of social mimicry imposture, which he defines as a method of social mimicry in the conditions of under the strict control of the Stalinist era. The collected facts and careful analyses allowed to not only to present a comprehensive picture of economic relations, but also to draw interesting conclusions about how typical this phenomenon was for the Soviet economy
shadow economy; corruption; history of the USSR 1940s–1950s; imposture; N. M. Pavlenko.