Wholesale Price, the price of industrial produce, at which state enterprises ( associations) sell their products in large quantities to other enterprises (including collective farms), supply and sales organisations and retail enterprises. In Soviet industry, there are two kinds of wholesale prices: wholesale prices of enterprises, and those of industry, which reflect the stages of the movement of commodities from producer to consumer. The wholesale price of an enterprise reimburses its production costs (see Costs of Socialist Enterprises) and ensures the enterprise’s necessary profit (see Profit of Socialist Enterprises.) At this price, enterprises ensure that their products reach each other and supply and sales organisations. In certain industries (engineering, chemical, etc.) only the wholesale price of an enterprise is now used. The industrial wholesale price is of two kinds: without the turnover tax and with the turnover tax. The former price reimburses the expenses of the supply and sales organisations in buying products from producer enterprises, the sales and transport expenditures of these organisations, and also includes their profit. This price, besides the wholesale price, also includes the retail margin to the benefit of the supply and sales organisation. At this price the material and technical supply organisations ensure that the means of production bought from the producer enterprises reach the consumer enterprises. Supply and sales organisations sell to trade organisations certain kinds of products (mainly, consumer goods) at the industrial wholesale prices that include the turnover tax. Wholesale prices are the main link in the system of planned prices. Over half of the entire social product is sold in the USSR at these prices. The rate of the net product (see Rated Net Product) is calculated on the basis of the wholesale prices. They perform the following functions: plan-accounting (accounting for the socially necessary expenditures of labour, which ensures that every normally functioning enterprise is reimbursed from incomes by realising products and that it receives profit); stimulating (price aids society to ensure a better material position for most progressive branches, producers and consumers of new machinery, and more effective articles); distributive (aided by the turnover tax, included in the price of certain kinds of products, this redistributes surplus product between various industries); supply and demand accounting. The latter concerns, first of all, critical goods or, on the contrary, those in excess. Because of the scientific and technological revolution the conditions of manufacturing goods constantly change, making it necessary to revise wholesale prices once every five-year period. The main currents in improving wholesale prices are: their closer dovetailing with socially necessary labour expenditures, their lowering through reducing the expenditures of material and labour in production, use of less expensive materials, cutting cost price, setting encouraging increases for the wholesale price of new and highly-effective products of production-technical designation and reductions in the wholesale price for the manufacture of second category products and those not certified in a set term. When setting wholesale prices for new articles, especially machines and equipment, their level has to be reduced by unit of useful effect (for instance, per unit of power of an engine, productivity of equipment, etc.).