Requirements for members of a production cooperative. Production cooperatives

The word "cooperative" evokes different emotions in everyone - in the 90s, some invested money profitably, while others simply squandered it without receiving anything in return. For some, the concept of a production cooperative is generally incomprehensible, what features and shortcomings it has, who can take part in it, and what documents are needed for this. We will tell you about the requirements for participants in a production cooperative, their composition and the essence of the organization today.

What is a production cooperative

Another name for the PC is considered to be an artel, the main criterion for the activity of which is the association of citizens on a voluntary basis. It can be production, trade or other economic activity implemented in various ways.

The presence of share contributions is a common practice, but personal labor participation. Moreover, not only an individual, but also a legal entity can be a member of a cooperative, but this must be reflected in the constituent documents of the PC.

This video will tell you what a production cooperative is:

Varieties of organization

In many regions of the country, an association of citizens engaged in the production of agricultural products is widespread. The simplest example of an agricultural PC (agricultural production cooperative) can be the union of two rural families - in one they make hay, in the other they take care of the cow, and the milk is divided according to the efforts and means invested. Although the PC cannot have only two members by law.

Most often, agricultural cooperatives are some form of self-employment that allows you to combine efforts and means to achieve common goals. Voluntary association of citizens allows you to buy expensive agricultural equipment, receive loans for favorable conditions, provides more rational harvesting and implementation of the crop.

Characteristic features

Every form of organization has its own characteristics. A production cooperative has the following characteristics:

1. Participation in the PC is entirely voluntary.
2. Each participant owns a part of the enterprise.
3. Any member of the PC has the right to vote at the general meeting.
4. The founders of the PC create it for a specific activity.
5. Members of the PC are obliged to take material or personal participation in the activity.

Like any form of ownership, a PC has a number of certain disadvantages and advantages. The presence of a properly drawn up plan for the implementation of activities and competent leadership can almost completely eliminate the shortcomings, leaving only the pluses.

Advantages and disadvantages

Any member of the PC can sell his share - this is a big advantage over, it is much more difficult to sell in monetary terms. Also, an undoubted advantage is the possibility of faster implementation of goals through the consolidation of efforts and means. Often, joining forces is the only way to realize what has been planned.

The main disadvantage of a production cooperative is the responsibility of personal property. A legal entity organized in a form is responsible only for the property of the company, without affecting the personal funds of the owners. In a cooperative, if debts arise as a result of economic activity, debts must be repaid by the participants in the amount of proportional shares.

The generality of the case itself can also be attributed to the illiterate choice of the chairman of the production cooperative by the participants in the production cooperative, a certain ownerlessness of activity may appear.

Features of the controls

According to the legislation of the Russian Federation, a cooperative cannot contain less than 5 individual members. These are not necessarily citizens of Russia - foreigners and stateless people are allowed to participate in the cooperative. It is the members of the cooperative that constitute the most important governing body - the general meeting of participants. They have the right to choose the executive bodies: the board, the chairman, etc.

Executive bodies lead the PC, making decisions allocated to their competence, without affecting issues that are decided exclusively by the general meeting. The Chairman and other members of the Board of the PC may be deprived of their powers at any time by decision general meeting participants.

About the founders and the minimum number (number of members) of participants in the production cooperative, their composition, liability for obligations, rights and obligations will be described below.

PC Members

The first thing that every member of the PC should know is that all its members are required to bear subsidiary liability. In simple words The more you invest, the greater the responsibility. If the cooperative has debts, its participants are liable for them with their personal property.

If a production cooperative includes a legal entity, it is also responsible for its property in shares proportional to share holdings.

Constituent documents

The only document in a production cooperative is the Charter. Its clauses should not contradict the legislative and regulations RF.

Guided by the charter, orders and other documents are issued to ensure efficient activities.

Authorized capital

The minimum value of the authorized capital is not defined by law - the participants determine it themselves, based on the necessary funds for the activity. In this case, it is possible to introduce not only Money, but also the property required for the normal functioning of the PC. The contribution of funds in the form of property in excess of 25,000 rubles must occur after an independent assessment.

The only requirement for the authorized capital is the contribution by each of the participants of a 10% share of their share until the official registration of the PC. By the time of paperwork, members must independently determine the size of the authorized capital and organize the collection of funds and property for at least 10% of the total amount. The rest of the funds, the participants of the cooperative are obliged to pay within a year from the date of registration.

A production cooperative unites citizens on a voluntary basis. Depending on the charter of the organization, legal entities may be included in it. Like any organization, a production cooperative has its own characteristics, the minimum number of participants, is subject to the governing bodies in compliance with the provisions of the constituent documents.

This video will tell you which cooperative is better to choose for yourself:

A production cooperative (artel) is recognized as voluntary association citizens on the basis of membership for joint production and other economic activities based on their personal labor and other participation and the association of its members (participants) of property share contributions. The founding document of a cooperative may provide for the participation of legal entities in its activities. A cooperative is a legal entity - a commercial organization.

Number of participants

The number of members of the cooperative cannot be less than five people. Members (participants) of the cooperative may be citizens of the Russian Federation, foreign citizens, stateless persons. A legal entity participates in the activities of the cooperative through its representative in accordance with the charter of the cooperative.

Citizens of the Russian Federation who have reached the age of sixteen years and have made the share contribution established by the charter of the cooperative may be members of a cooperative. The number of members of the cooperative who have made a share contribution, participating in the activities of the cooperative, but not taking personal labor participation in its activities, may not exceed twenty-five percent of the number of members of the cooperative taking personal labor participation in its activities.

Unit trust

The minimum and maximum size of the share capital is not limited. This is due to the fact that in case of insufficient ownership of the cooperative, its members bear additional (subsidiary) responsibility.

Purposes of creation

A production cooperative is created for the purpose of making a profit and may engage in any activity not prohibited by law. At the same time, for certain types activities require a special permit (license).

Governing bodies

The supreme governing body of the cooperative is general meeting of its members. In a cooperative with more than fifty members, a supervisory board. The executive bodies of the cooperative include board and (or) chairman of the cooperative. Only members of the cooperative can be members of the supervisory board and members of the board of the cooperative, as well as the chairman of the cooperative. A member of a cooperative cannot simultaneously be a member of the supervisory board and a member of the board (chairman) of the cooperative.

General meeting of members of the cooperative

The general meeting of members of the cooperative has the right to consider and decide on any issue of the formation and activities of the cooperative. The exclusive competence of the general meeting of members of the cooperative includes:

approval of the charter of the cooperative, making changes to it;

determination of the main activities of the cooperative;

admission to the membership of the cooperative and exclusion from the members of the cooperative;

establishing the size of the share contribution, the size and procedure for the formation of cooperative funds; determination of directions for their use;

the formation of a supervisory board and the termination of the powers of its members, as well as the formation and termination of the powers of the executive bodies of the cooperative, if this right has not been transferred to its supervisory board under the charter of the cooperative;

election of the audit commission (auditor) of the cooperative, termination of powers of its members;

approval of annual reports and balance sheets, conclusions of the audit commission (auditor) of the cooperative, auditor; distribution of profits and losses of the cooperative;

making decisions on the reorganization and liquidation of the cooperative;

creation and liquidation of branches and representative offices of the cooperative, approval of regulations on them;

resolving questions on the participation of the cooperative in business partnerships and companies, as well as on the entry of the cooperative into unions (associations).

The charter of the cooperative may include other issues of the cooperative's activities within the exclusive competence of the general meeting of members of the cooperative. The general meeting of members of the cooperative is authorized to make decisions if the meeting is attended by more than fifty percent the total number of members of the cooperative. The general meeting of members of the cooperative makes decisions by a simple majority of votes of the members of the cooperative present at this meeting, unless otherwise provided by this federal law or the charter of the cooperative. Every member cooperative, regardless of the size of its share, has when making decisions by the general meeting of members of the cooperative one vote.

Decisions on changing the charter of a cooperative, on reorganization (with the exception of transformation into a business partnership or company) and on the liquidation of a cooperative are taken by three-fourths of the votes members of the cooperative present at the general meeting. The decision to transform a cooperative into a business partnership or company is made by unanimous decision of the members of the cooperative.

The decision to expel a member of the cooperative is taken by two-thirds of the votes of the members of the cooperative present at the general meeting. Issues related to the exclusive competence of the general meeting of members of the cooperative cannot be transferred to the decision of the supervisory board of the cooperative or the executive bodies of the cooperative.

(artel) - a voluntary association of citizens on the basis of membership for joint production or other economic activities based on their personal labor and other participation and the association of its members (participants) of property shares.

law and founding documents cooperative may be provided for participation in its activities. The main activities are production, processing, marketing of industrial, agricultural and other products, performance of work, trade, consumer services. Legal entities, being members of a production cooperative, may participate in its activities through the performance of any works or services.

Members of a cooperative bear subsidiary liability for its obligations in the amount and in the manner prescribed by laws on production cooperatives. The company name of a cooperative must contain its name and the words "production cooperative" or "artel". Legal status production cooperatives, the rights and obligations of their members are regulated by Art. 107-112 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and the Federal Law of May 8, 1996 No. 41-FZ “On Production Cooperatives”. The specifics of the creation and operation of agricultural cooperatives (production, processing, servicing agricultural producers) are established by the Law on Agricultural Cooperation.

The founding document of a production cooperative is the charter approved by the general meeting of its members.

In a production cooperative is not created authorized capital and the property owned by it is divided into shares of its members. The charter may establish that a certain part of the property owned is indivisible funds used for the purposes determined by the charter of the cooperative. A member of the cooperative is obliged to pay at least 10% of the share contribution by the time of registration of the cooperative, and the rest - within a year from the date of registration. The profit of the cooperative is distributed among its members in accordance with their labor participation, unless otherwise provided by law and the charter of the cooperative. The property remaining after the liquidation of the cooperative and the satisfaction of the claims of its creditors is distributed in the same manner (Article 109 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

A member of a cooperative has the right to withdraw from the cooperative at his own discretion., and he must be paid the value of the share or given property corresponding to his share. A member of a cooperative may be expelled from the cooperative by decision of the general meeting in case of non-performance or improper performance of the duties assigned to him by the charter, as well as in other cases provided for by law and the charter of the cooperative.

If it is necessary to foreclose on the share of a member of the cooperative for his personal debts and if his property is insufficient, it is allowed to foreclose on his share in the manner prescribed by law and the charter (Article 111 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

The supreme governing body of the cooperative- the general meeting of its members. In a cooperative with more than fifty members, a supervisory board may be established to exercise control over the activities of the executive bodies of the cooperative. The last are the board and (or) the chairman of the cooperative. The executive bodies carry out the current management of the activities of the cooperative. Only members of the cooperative can be members of the supervisory board and board of the cooperative, as well as the chairman of the cooperative. A member of a cooperative cannot be both a member of the supervisory board and a member of the board or chairman of the cooperative. A member of the supervisory board or executive body may be expelled from the cooperative by decision of the general meeting in connection with his membership in a similar cooperative. The exclusive competence of the general meeting of members of the cooperative includes: changing the charter of the cooperative; the formation of a supervisory board and the termination of the powers of its members, as well as the formation and termination of the powers of the executive bodies of the cooperative; admission and exclusion of members of the cooperative, approval of annual reports and balance sheets of the cooperative and distribution of its profits and losses; decision on reorganization and liquidation of the cooperative.

A production cooperative, by unanimous decision of its members, may be transformed into a business partnership or company.

Agricultural cooperation and its social efficiency

Cooperation

Throughout the existence cooperation the world has not appeared more efficient organizational form self-support and mutual assistance of agricultural producers, which makes it possible to combine the advantages of an individual farm with large-scale production, which has a technical and economic advantage, as well as competitiveness in the market.

Cooperative forms of activity are an integral part of the economic life of most countries. According to available estimates, the most developed agricultural cooperation.

Russia has its own experience in the development of agricultural cooperation. Starting later than other countries (at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries), cooperation developed so rapidly that by the beginning of the First World War, Russia was considered one of the leading countries in the development of agricultural cooperation.

After the October Revolution, cooperation was banned, but in 1921 it was again allowed and during the period a it received a second rapid development. In 1926-1927, a system of management of agricultural cooperatives was formed at all levels.

Then a course was taken for complete collectivization Agriculture For more than 70 years, it was doomed to an inefficient existence under the complete dominance of state forms of ownership and the administrative-command system of production management. Thus, twice in its history, Russian cooperation was the best in the world. It is characteristic to note that these short periods of development of agricultural cooperation fell on periods of intensive revival of market relations in the country.

Production cooperatives remain the most numerous organizational and legal form of agricultural producers. In part 1 of Art. 107 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, a production cooperative is defined as “a voluntary association of citizens on the basis of membership for joint production or other economic activities (production, processing, marketing of industrial, agricultural and other products, performance of work, trade, consumer services, provision of other services) based on their personal labor and other participation and association of property share contributions by its members (participants).

Distinctive features of the production cooperative

The choice of this organizational and legal form by agricultural enterprises is explained by the search for more efficient business models, which makes it necessary to study the conditions for their effective operation and develop management methods in order to identify the positive and negative aspects of the activity of this form of production organization.

Compared with other forms of management, an agricultural production cooperative has its own distinctive features.

In a production cooperative that most fully meets the specifics of agricultural production, full combination in one person of the employee and the owner, since one of the main conditions for membership in a cooperative is labor participation of its main members in production activities.

Each worker independently decides on joining a production cooperative. The decision to accept a new member of the cooperative is taken by the general meeting. Each member of the cooperative contributes a mandatory share, the amount of which must be specified in the charter. A compulsory share gives the right to a decisive vote at the meeting. Each member of the cooperative has one vote. Individuals and legal entities who have made a share, but did not take part in the activities of the cooperative, receive the status of associate members and do not have the right to vote at the meeting.

In addition to cash contributions to the mandatory share account, property shares, land shares and other contributions for which monetary value is being applied. The production cooperative forms indivisible (reserve) fund in the amount of 10% of the total share fund, which can be used by decision of the meeting in emergency cases. If the employee's property share exceeds the mandatory share, then its balance minus the latter is credited to additional share payment.

Membership production cooperative not limited, which makes it possible to organize a fairly large production, and this allows for the improvement of the organization and. However, due to the possibility of free exit from the cooperative of its members with their property, this form does not ensure the sustainability of large-scale production. When leaving the cooperative, members receive the value of their share contribution and a land plot on the terms determined by the charter and contract.

Cooperative formations in the agro-industrial complex make it possible to effectively organize, reduce, guarantee the sale of manufactured products, and provide material protection to commodity producers.

Functions and tasks of cooperation

The main task of the production cooperative— meeting the needs of its participants in the most efficient, economic way. Another possible criterion for the effectiveness of a production cooperative is social efficiency, i.e. the ability of cooperation to meet the pressing social needs of its members. Recognizing the importance of cooperative forms of management in solving the social problems of rural residents, in our opinion, we can single out row social functions cooperation providing:

• elimination of social isolation of participants;
• the operation of the principle "one for all and all for one" (solidarity, responsibility, self-help through mutual benefit);
• self-expression of personality (formation of active life position, value orientations, creativity, comprehension of one's activity);
• education and upbringing (creation of the spiritual well-being of the individual);
• openness of the community (open membership, the principle of political, religious neutrality);
• social protection (loans and benefits for social needs);
• increased needs, better living and working conditions;
• creation of new jobs;
• creation of social infrastructure.

The ability of cooperation to solve social problems, to form a high social activity of the villagers creates optimal prerequisites for increasing economic efficiency cooperative form of farming in the countryside.

The activities of cooperatives as economic entities are influenced by internal and external factors, the lines of influence of which are often contradictory. Internal - this is the activity of the members of the cooperative, and external - the market competitive environment and institution of the state. These factors represent their own interests, the lack of coordination of which leads to a distortion of the cooperative form of management.

Components of the mechanism for the effectiveness of cooperation as a form of management

The organizational and economic structure of any form of cooperation should contain such structures that would create and ensure the functioning of the mechanism for coordinating these interests, thereby ensuring them. efficient operation. These include government institutions, the competitive environment, shareholder members and employees. The interaction of the mechanism and the effectiveness of cooperation as a form of management are reflected in Table 1.

Table 1

Cooperation Development Mechanism	Cooperation functions	Efficiency of cooperation	Performance criteria
Market and competition	Economic and entrepreneurial activity	Economic efficiency	income, savings, financial stability, stability, adaptation, flexibility, quality
Shareholders	social activities	Social efficiency	Attitude to work, motivation, employment, protection of interests, unity of purpose
hired personnel	Control	Managerial efficiency	Democracy of management: degree of influence in planning and setting goals, consistency of roles
state institutions	Carrying out activities in accordance with public policy	National economic efficiency	Environmental friendliness, consistency of all the benefits of the cooperative form of management and for society

Loss ratio of agricultural cooperatives

One of the reasons for the unprofitability of agricultural production cooperatives is the difficulty in marketing agricultural products, high prices for technical equipment, fertilizers, fuel and lubricants, and other resources. These difficulties, which are the main brake on the development of production, are equally experienced by all agricultural producers, regardless of the organizational and legal forms of enterprises, since intermediaries, marketing, processing, supply and other monopoly enterprises stand between them. The way out of this situation is the creation of cooperative enterprises and organizations, both for the processing and marketing of products, and for logistics and service. The practice of foreign countries convincingly testifies to the effectiveness of this path.

The problems of financing and crediting production are no less acute at the present time. In the sphere of credit services for agriculture, the commercial banks, establishing unbearable for commodity producers interest rates on loans issued.

Most rational way solutions to these problems continuation of the association of agricultural producers into specialized cooperatives: processing, storage, transportation; marketing of agricultural raw materials and products of their processing; logistics; credit and financial services; insurance service.

There should be only one criterion for evaluating this - growth in production, reduction in its cost and increase in profitability, and this is possible with the active and comprehensive support of the state to create start-up capital cooperatives.

The characteristics of a production cooperative are:

1. qualitative composition of participants: a cooperative is a voluntary association of citizens (more precisely, individuals);
2. legal basis for participation - the presence of membership in a cooperative, which implies acts of admission and exclusion from the cooperative as the basis for the emergence and termination of participation rights;
3. personal labor participation of all members of the cooperative in its main activities. The purpose of association in a cooperative is a joint production or other economic activity. This feature presupposes, and sometimes makes it mandatory, participation in only one cooperative;
4. consolidation of property by paying the same property share contribution for all;
5. cooperative (democratic) principle of managing a cooperative on the principle of one participant - one vote;
6. distribution of profits depending on the degree of personal participation, and not on invested funds (shares).

These signs indicate the presence of close property and non-property ties between the members of the cooperative, which are essentially comrades associated with common production and other economic activities. It is no coincidence that cooperatives also have other names - cooperative partnerships and artels. Making a profit for them is a means of satisfying the needs of cooperative members. Therefore, the social component in them is no less important than the commercial one.

Cooperatives, however, have common features with both partnerships and business companies. They are related to the first by personal participation in the affairs of the founders (participants) of the cooperative, the absence of strict requirements for initial capital, with the second - by the variable composition of participants (as a rule, an open composition of members), pre-established management bodies.

Participants (members) of the cooperative. Citizens who have established a cooperative or are accepted as members of a cooperative are considered to be participants in a cooperative. At the same time, citizens of the Russian Federation who have reached the age of 16 may be members of the cooperative who have made the share contribution established by the charter of the cooperative. Foreign citizens and stateless persons can be members of the cooperative on an equal basis with citizens of the Russian Federation.

The number of founders (members) of the cooperative must be at least 5.

The size of the share fund is not standardized by law, but is established by the charter of the cooperative. This circumstance is caused by the fact that the members of the cooperative are responsible for the obligations of the cooperative, which makes the cooperative somewhat similar to a business partnership.

The share fund must be fully formed (paid) within a year from the date of state registration of the cooperative. By the time of registration, the law requires each member of the cooperative to pay at least 10% of the share contribution.

The charter of the cooperative should provide for the liability of a member of the cooperative for violation of the obligation to make a share contribution (clause 2, article 10 of the Federal Law on production cooperatives).

The share fund is not identified with the specific property of the cooperative, but only correlates with a certain part of its value. net assets. Starting from the second year after registration, a decrease in those by the end of each year below the level of the share fund imposes on the cooperative the obligation to announce a decrease in the size of the share fund and register this decrease in the prescribed manner (clause 4, article 10 of the Federal Law on production cooperatives, clause 9, article 35 of the Federal Law on agricultural cooperation).

The cooperative is allowed to establish for certain types his property a special treatment of indivisible funds. In accordance with the indication of the charter of the cooperative, a certain part of the property belonging to the cooperative may be attributed to indivisible funds used for the purposes determined by the charter. This property is distributed by shares and is not taken into account in cooperative payments and distributions. This property is not levied for the obligations of a member of the cooperative.

In agricultural cooperatives, the charter may define a list of objects of property attributable to an indivisible fund. Such a list with an indication of the book value may include buildings, structures, structures, machinery, equipment, farm animals, seeds, fodder and other property of the cooperative that is not subject to division into shares of members of the cooperative and associated members of the cooperative or issuance in kind during the period of existence of the cooperative upon termination of membership in a cooperative (clause 5.1 of article 34 of the Federal Law on agricultural cooperation).

The decision on the formation of indivisible funds is taken by the members of the cooperative unanimously, unless otherwise provided by the charter of the cooperative.

Cooperatives can create special cash funds - a reserve fund (which, in turn, is also indivisible - Article 6, paragraph 6 of Article 34 of the Federal Law on agricultural cooperation) and other funds (paragraph 2 of Article 11 of the Federal Law on production cooperatives , clause 4, article 34 of the Federal Law on agricultural cooperation).

Cooperative profit is distributed among its members in accordance with their labor participation, unless otherwise provided by law and the charter of the cooperative (clause 4, article 109 of the Civil Code). In accordance with the Federal Law on production cooperatives (Article 12), the profit is distributed among the members of the cooperative in accordance with their personal labor and (or) other participation, the size of the share contribution, and among the members of the cooperative who do not take personal labor participation in the activities of the cooperative, in accordance with the amount their share contribution. By decision of the general meeting of members of the cooperative, part of the profit of the cooperative may be distributed among its employees. The part of the profit of the cooperative, distributed among the members of the cooperative in proportion to the size of their share contributions, should not exceed 50% of the profit of the cooperative to be distributed among the members of the cooperative.

The profit of an agricultural cooperative is distributed according to special rules (Article 36 of the Federal Law on agricultural cooperation). Cooperative payments from it are made in the following proportion: at least 70% of the amount of cooperative payments is directed to replenish the incremental share of a member of the cooperative, and the remainder is paid to the member of the cooperative. The funds of incremental shares are spent primarily on the creation and expansion of production and other funds of the cooperative (with the exception of the indivisible fund of the cooperative). At the expense of these funds, the incremental shares are also redeemed, but not earlier than three years after their formation, if the cooperative has the necessary funds and subject to the formation of the appropriate funds provided for by the charter of the cooperative (clause 4, article 35 of the Federal Law on agricultural cooperation).

The independent property liability of a cooperative in a certain sense resembles the liability of a business partnership, although, of course, it is far from being identical to it. A cooperative, like any other legal entity, is primarily responsible for its obligations with its property, and first of all with money. Collection of debts of an agricultural cooperative, if it does not have sufficient funds to pay off the debt, may be levied on its property, with the exception of property classified in the prescribed manner as indivisible funds, working horses and livestock, productive and breeding livestock and poultry, animals contained in the cultivation and fattening, agricultural machinery and Vehicle(with the exception of cars), seed and fodder funds.

However, along with the responsibility that the cooperative bears within the limits of its property, the Civil Code provides for additional (subsidiary) liability of members of the cooperative for its obligations. The amount and procedure for such liability are regulated by the laws on cooperatives and the charter of the cooperative. The federal law on cooperatives does not add anything to this provision of the Civil Code, leaving the founders and members of the cooperative to decide this issue on their own. In an agricultural cooperative, members bear subsidiary liability for the obligations of the cooperative in the amount provided for by its charter, but not less than 5% of their share (clause 2, article 37 of the Federal Law on agricultural cooperation).

The cooperative is not liable for the obligations of its members. Foreclosure on a share of a member of a production cooperative for the member's own debts is allowed only if there is a shortage of his other property to cover such debts in the manner prescribed by law and the charter of the cooperative. Collection of debts of a member of the cooperative cannot be directed to the indivisible funds of the cooperative (paragraph 5 of article 111 of the Civil Code).

Corporate name of the cooperative must contain its name and the words "production cooperative" or "artel" (clause 3 of article 107 of the Civil Code).

Production cooperatives are created (established) and carry out their activities in accordance with Civil Code RF, Federal Law of May 8, 1996 No. 41-FZ “On Production Cooperatives” and other federal laws.

Production cooperative (artel) a voluntary association of citizens is recognized on the basis of membership for joint production or other economic activities (production, processing, marketing of industrial, agricultural and other products, performance of work, trade, consumer services, provision of other services), based on their personal labor and other participation and association its members (participants) of property share contributions (clause 1, article 107 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Article 2 of the Federal Law "On Production Cooperatives" states that this law regulates relations arising from the formation, operation and termination of the activities of cooperatives engaged in the production, processing, marketing of industrial and other products, trade, construction, household and other types of services, extraction of minerals and other natural resources, collection and processing of secondary raw materials, carrying out research, design and development work, as well as providing medical, legal, marketing and other types of services not prohibited by law, i.e. federal law clearly establishes the scope (subject) of activity of production cooperatives. It should be noted that in Russia the process of establishing entrepreneurship actually began with the development of cooperatives and rental relations.

Features of the development and implementation of the activities of agricultural production cooperatives are established by the Federal Law of December 08, 1996 No. 198-FZ “On Agricultural Cooperation”, which states that agricultural cooperative- an organization created by agricultural producers on the basis of voluntary membership for joint production or other economic activities based on the pooling of their property share contributions in order to meet the material and other needs of members of the cooperative.

Production cooperative(hereinafter referred to as a cooperative) is formed solely by the decision of its founders. The number of members of the cooperative should not be less than 5 people. Members (participants) of the cooperative may be citizens of the Russian Federation, foreign citizens, stateless persons. The number of cooperative members who have made a share contribution, participating in its activities, but not taking personal labor participation in its activities, cannot exceed 25% of the number of cooperative members participating in personal labor participation in the cooperative's activities.

A member of a cooperative is obliged to make a share contribution to the property of the cooperative. The share contribution of a member of a cooperative may be money, securities, other property, including property rights, as well as other objects of civil rights that have a monetary value. Land plots and other natural resources may be a share contribution to the extent that their turnover is allowed by the laws on land and natural resources. The size of the share contribution is established by the charter of the cooperative. To the moment state registration member of the cooperative is obliged to pay at least 10% of the share contribution. The rest is paid within a year from the date of state registration of the cooperative.

Share contributions form the share fund of the cooperative, which determines minimum size property of a cooperative that guarantees the interests of its creditors. The share fund must be fully formed during the first year of the cooperative's activity. The property of the cooperative is formed at the expense of share contributions of the members of the cooperative, provided for by its charter, profits from its own activities, loans, property donated by individuals and legal entities, other sources allowed by law.

The founding document of the cooperative is charter approved by the general meeting of members of the cooperative.

The articles of association must contain the following information:

The company name of the cooperative and the words "production cooperative" or "artel";

Location of the cooperative;

Conditions on the amount of share contributions of members of the cooperative;

On the composition and procedure for making share contributions by members of the cooperative and on their liability for violation of obligations to make these contributions;

On the nature and procedure for labor and other participation of members of the cooperative in its activities and on their responsibility for violation of obligations for personal labor and other participation;

On the procedure for the distribution of profits and losses of the cooperative;

On the amount and conditions of subsidiary liability of the cooperative for its debts;

On the composition and competence of the management bodies of the cooperative and the procedure for making decisions by them, including on issues, decisions on which are taken unanimously or by a qualified majority of votes;

On the procedure for paying the value of a share or issuing the property corresponding to it to a person who has terminated membership in a cooperative;

On the procedure for the entry of new members into the cooperative;

On the procedure for exiting the cooperative;

On the grounds and procedure for exclusion from members of the cooperative;

On the procedure for the formation of property of the cooperative;

On the list of branches and representative offices of the cooperative;

On the order of reorganization and liquidation of the cooperative.

The charter of a cooperative may also contain other information necessary for its activities that does not contradict the law. For example, on the formation of an indivisible fund of a cooperative and its other funds, on the assignment to the exclusive competence of the general meeting of members of the cooperative of other issues of activity, in addition to those established by the Federal Law (Article 15), etc.

The supreme governing body of the cooperative is an general meeting its members, who have the right to consider and make decisions on any issue of the formation and activities of the cooperative. The general meeting of members of the cooperative is authorized to make decisions if more than 50% of the total number of members of the cooperative is present at this meeting. Each member of the cooperative, regardless of the size of its share, has one vote when making decisions by the general meeting of members of the cooperative. The next meeting of the cooperative is held at least once a year, but no later than three months after the end of the financial year.

In a cooperative with more than 50 members, a supervisory board may be created, the members of which can only be members of the cooperative. The Supervisory Board exercises control over the activities of the executive bodies of the cooperative. A member of the supervisory board cannot simultaneously be a member of the board of the cooperative or its chairman. Members of the supervisory board of the cooperative are not entitled to act on behalf of the cooperative.

The executive bodies of the cooperative include the board and (or) the chairman of the cooperative. In a cooperative with more than 10 members, the general meeting elects from among the members of the cooperative governing body, which manages the activities of the cooperative in the period between the general meetings of its members. The competence of the board of the cooperative includes issues that are not referred to the exclusive competence of the general meeting of members of the cooperative and the supervisory board of the cooperative. The board of the cooperative is headed by the chairman of the cooperative, who is elected by the general meeting from among the members of the cooperative. The powers of the chairman of the cooperative are established by the charter. The executive bodies of the cooperative are accountable to the supervisory board of the cooperative and the general meeting of members of the cooperative.

To control the financial and economic activities of the cooperative, the general meeting of members of the cooperative elects an audit commission consisting of at least 3 members of the cooperative or an auditor, if the number of members of the cooperative is less than 20. Audit committee(auditor) of the cooperative checks financial condition of the cooperative based on the results of work for the financial year, conducts an audit of the financial and economic activities of the cooperative on behalf of the general meeting of members of the cooperative, the supervisory board of the cooperative or at the request of at least 10% of the members of the cooperative, as well as on its own initiative.

A cooperative may be voluntarily reorganized in the form of a merger, acquisition, division, separation or transformation by decision of the general meeting of members of the cooperative. A cooperative may be liquidated by decision of the general meeting of the cooperative, including in connection with the expiration of the period for which it was created, the achievement of the purpose for which it was created, or by a court decision. A cooperative may be liquidated by a court decision in the event of carrying out activities without a proper permit (license), or in the case of carrying out activities prohibited by law, or in the case of repeated and gross violations law, as well as other legal acts. In accordance with the established procedure, the cooperative is liquidated as a result of its recognition as insolvent (bankrupt) in accordance with the Federal Law "On Insolvency (Bankruptcy)".