"P.O. Box" (Pochtovy Yashchik) was a code designation used for Soviet defense-industry enterprises, organizations, and research institutes, introduced in the USSR as part of the military-industrial complex's secrecy system.
Origins
The system of code designations was introduced in 1927, under a resolution of the USSR Council of People's Commissars dated April 27, 1926. It was originally meant to increase secrecy around defense production, concealing the nature and location of strategically important enterprises.
Per the first order, No. 73ss, dated July 9, 1927, the first 30 defense-related plants received numeric designations. Alongside the numbers, non-classified names "for seals and signage" were introduced, along with coded addresses for shipping goods and telegraph addresses.
The term "P.O. Box" was used as part of an enterprise's open coded address. For example: "Leningrad, P.O. Box 496" or "Moscow, P.O. Box 123." Each city hosting defense enterprises had its own numbering scheme for P.O. boxes.
Evolution of the system
In the 1950s, "P.O. Box" designations were folded directly into enterprises' code names: "Enterprise P.O. Box 123." After the Great Patriotic War, this system expanded beyond factories to scientific, research, and design organizations — research institutes, design bureaus, and others.
Significant changes came in 1966, when, per Council of Ministers resolution No. 758-316 of September 8, 1964, a unified system of coded and open names was established. The old "numeric" designations were abolished, enterprises received open names, but retained new coded designations in the form of a Russian-alphabet letter plus a four-digit number (for example, "A-2368," "V-2281," "M-5050").
Research institutes within the "P.O. Box" system
Defense-oriented research institutes held a special place within this system. They fell into two main types:
- Civilian research institutes — ordinary research institutes (for example, the Dairy Industry Research Institute)
- "P.O. Boxes" — research institutes belonging to the military-industrial complex
Research institutes classified as "P.O. Boxes" enjoyed significant advantages over ordinary civilian institutes. Thanks to their connection to the military budget, they had better funding, letting management take extra care of employees: paying "secrecy" bonuses, arranging special "orders" of scarce goods for holidays, and setting up internal stores stocking hard-to-find items.
Employees at such institutes, depending on their level of security clearance, could hold military status, which brought certain restrictions: a ban on traveling abroad, a duty to protect military and state secrets, and heightened discipline requirements.
Examples of well-known "P.O. Boxes"
Among the best-known organizations that carried such designations:
- P.O. Box No. 12 — the M.M. Gromov Flight Research Institute (Zhukovsky)
- P.O. Box No. 51 — the Computing Technology Research Institute
- P.O. Box No. A-1586 — the All-Union Radio Electronics Research Institute
- P.O. Box No. M-5301 — the A.P. Alexandrov Research and Technology Institute
The system of enterprise code designations was finally abolished by USSR Council of Ministers resolution No. 250-79, dated March 21, 1989, shortly before the collapse of the Soviet Union.