Appendix No. 1.

NOTES ON THE METHODS OF CALCULATION.

I. The value of imports and exports for the period
1920/21 to 1923/24 in world-prices was estimated by
‘he following methods:
(a) The value of imports and exports for 1920/21
and 1921/22 is expressed by the Soviet Customs Statistics
'n pre-war Russian home prices. We therefore established
the co-efficient showing the difference between prices for
Russian products on the home markets and on world
markets, and multiplied the pre-war value by this coefficient.
 In addition we constructed special indices
showing the increase of prices for each of the ten groups
of the Soviet Customs Nomenclature in 1920/21 and 1921/22
n comparison with the year 1913 and multiplied the
value of the exports and imports expressed in pre-war
prices by these indices.
(b) For 1922/23 we accepted the calculation prepared
»y the Economic Department of the Commissariat of
Yoreign Trade.
(c) For the year 1923/24 we used the calculation
prepared by the Commissariat of Foreign Trade and
published in its report presented to the All Union Congress
of Soviets in 1924.
2. Revision of the estimate of the value of exports
for the period 1923/24 to 1930/31, published by the Soviet
Customs Statistics, was made in the following way :
We calculated the average prices used by the Soviet
Customs Statistics for wheat, rye, oats, barley, flax, butter,
oggs, sawn timber, petroleum, furs, manganese, bristles
ind ten other industrial commodities, and compared them
with the average prices quoted for the same Russian

»roducts on world markets, estimating these prices f.0.b.
Russian port or border. On the basis of these comparative
igures we worked out indices for each of the corresponding
sroups of the Soviet Customs Nomenclature and divided
he value of Soviet exports as shown by Soviet Customs
Statistics by these indices. The resultant figures showed
hat the total value of exports was over-estimated in the
‘ustoms returns by 2 to 59, in various years, and in the
:ase of some individual commodities by 10 to 159%.
3. The value of Soviet exports and imports is
stimated in roubles. But these roubles are not interational
 money and have no purchasing power abroad
;utside a limited sphere in the East, where they are used
a the foreign trade of the U.S.S.R. The value of foreign
rade was originally estimated by the Soviet Customs
Statistics in world prices and in foreign currencies in which
be transactions had actually been effected. The results
»f this calculation were subsequently converted into
Soviet roubles at fixed rates which had no bearing upon
he real international value of the Soviet Exchange.
No rates for this exchange are officially quoted abroad,
ind unofficial quotations are purely speculative,
tence the roubles used in Soviet Customs returns
should not be confused with the chervonets, the internal
surchasing power of which is much lower than that fixed
n terms of foreign currencies by the rate of exchange
‘egulated by the Soviet State Bank. We prefer to call them
oreign trade roubles, for they are used only for the purpose
»f foreign trade, a fact which should be remembered when
‘his trade is compared with national production which is
astimated in chervonets roubles.