Ukrainian cooperative movement

The Ukrainian Cooperative Movement was a movement based primarily in Western Ukraine that addressed the economic plight of the western Ukrainian people through the creation of financial, agricultural and trade cooperatives that enabled western Ukrainians (primarily peasants) to pool their resources, to obtain less expensive loans and insurance, and to pay less for products such as farm equipment. The cooperatives played a major role in the social and economic mobilization of the western Ukrainian people, most of whom were peasants. First begun in 1883, by 1939 cooperatives had 700,000 members in western Ukraine, employing 15,000 Ukrainians. The cooperatives were shut down by the Soviet authorities when western Ukraine was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1939. However, they continue to exist and flourish among Ukrainian emigrants and their descendants in North and South America, Europe and Australia.

The Ukrainian cooperative movement originated in Galicia, a western Ukrainian region that was part of Austria–Hungary. Initially, the Ukrainian Prosvita society which had been dedicated to educational and cultural efforts attempted to organize credit unions, stores and warehouses. Its ability to do so was limited, however, by lack of experience in economic matters. The need for an experienced organizer was fulfilled by Vasyl Nahirny, who had spent a decade in Switzerland studying that nation's well-developed cooperative systems. In 1883 he organized Narodna Torhivlia ("People's Trade"), whose goal was to buy and sell products in large quantities, eliminate middlemen, and pass the savings on to the Ukrainian villagers. Through this cooperative Nahirny hoped to familiarize Ukrainians with commerce.

Many other cooperatives followed. In 1899, Silsky Hospodar, whose aim was to teach the peasants modern farming methods, was founded. By 1913 it had 32,000 members. Dnister, an insurance company, was established in Lviv and by 1907 had 213,000 policyholders. Most important, however, was the rise of Ukrainian Credit unions. Although some existed as early as 1874, the Vira credit union was the first to be stable and well-regulated. Typically charging approximately 10% interest for loans, hundreds of credit unions sprung up throughout Austrian-ruled Ukraine. They helped put traditional moneylenders out of business. In 1904, a central association of Ukrainian cooperatives was formed, which had 550 institutional affiliates and 180,000 individual members.

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