Volkseigener Betrieb (VEB; German for "Publicly Owned Enterprise") was the main legal form for state-owned enterprises in the planned economy of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). VEBs constituted the majority of the economy of East Germany, including most industrial and service enterprises, and employed 79.9% of the East German workforce by 1989.
VEBs were organised by the State Planning Commission of the Council of Ministers, first into vertically integrated units called Associations of Publicly Owned Enterprises Vereinigung Volkseigener Betriebe (VVBs) until these were reformed into Kombinat by the 1980s. Production and investment were set by the State Planning Commission and ministry industries under the control of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. VEBs struggled to compete in the market economy during German reunification due to outdated and labour intensive practices, which made many of them unprofitable and heavily in debt. Around 8,000 VEBs were transferred to the Treuhandanstalt for privatisation and most were liquidated from 1990 to 1994.
Organisation
VEBs first appeared during mass nationalisation in the Soviet occupation zone between 1945 and the early 1960s, and the handing back in 1954 of some 33 enterprises previously taken by the Soviet Union as war reparations for World War II
Each VEB was led by a plant or works manager (, Werksdirektor or Betriebsdirektor), assisted by the first secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany factory organisation (Betriebsparteiorganisation) and the chairman of the factory trade union (Betriebsgewerkschaftsleitung). Subordinate to them were roles such as "Chief Accountant" and "Technical Director".
VEBs often had company sports teams, and played an important role in the promotion of sports.
An honorary name was frequently added to the firm's actual name, for example, VEB Kombinat Chemische Werke "Walter Ulbricht" Leuna. This was a socialist emulation incentive towards fulfillment and overfulfillment of production quotas. Many Germans, as a form of mild protest against the nationalization of private businesses, nicknamed the VEBs Vatis ehemaliger Betrieb, which translates to "Daddy's former business".
Examples
- VEB Automobilwerk Eisenach
- VEB BMK Kohle und Energie
- VEB Braunkohlenwerk Gustav Sobottka Röblingen
- VEB Deutsche Musikaliendruckerei
- VEB Deutsche Schallplatten
- VEB Deutsche Seereederei Rostock
- VEB Elbewerften Boizenburg/Roßlau
- VEB Fachbuchverlag Leipzig
- VEB Fahrzeug- und Gerätewerk Simson Suhl
- VEB Filmfabrik Wolfen
- Hochseeschiffbau Mathias-Thesen-Werft Wismar VEB
- VEB Jehmlich Orgelbau Dresden
- VEB Lokomotivbau Karl Marx Babelsberg (LKM)
- VEB Lokomotivbau Elektrotechnische Werke Hans Beimler Hennigsdorf (LEW)
- VEB Meissen Porzellan
- VEB Motorradwerk Zschopau
- VEB Polytechnik
See also
- Volkseigenes Gut
- Landwirtschaftliche Produktionsgenossenschaft
- New Economic System
- Economy of East Germany