Elektronorgtechnica

{{Short description|Defunct Soviet state-owned trading company}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Elektronorgtechnica

| logo = Elorg_logo.png

| type =

| industry = Import/export of electronics

| fate = Sold to The Tetris Company in 2005

| predecessor =

| successor =

| founded = 1971

| founder =

| defunct = 2005

| hq_location_city = Moscow

| hq_location_country = Russia

| area_served =

| key_people =

| products =

| owner =

| num_employees =

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| parent = Ministry of Foreign Trade of the USSR (until 1989)

| website =

}}

File:USSR K155TM2 (=7474).jpg

Elektronorgtechnica (also spelled Electronorgtechnica, {{Lang-rus|Всесою́зное Объедине́ние «Электро́норгтехника»|r=Vsesoyúznoye Obyedinéniye "Elektrónorgtekhnika"}}), better known abbreviated as ELORG (Элорг), was a state-owned organization with a monopoly on the import and export of computer support and hardware and software in the Soviet Union.{{cite news|title=Интеллектуальная собственность / Тетрис|url=http://kommersant.ru/doc/11471|access-date=17 September 2017|work=Kommersant|date=12 September 1995|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170918064619/https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/11471|archive-date=18 September 2017}} It was controlled by the Ministry of Foreign Trade of the USSR from 1971 to 1989.{{cite web|title=Список министерств и ведомств, их структурных подразделений и подведомственных организаций, документы которых переданы|url=http://economy.gov.ru/wps/wcm/connect/cf224939-c861-4a3d-8d37-1a11d3bb36ca/archlist2016.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=cf224939-c861-4a3d-8d37-1a11d3bb36ca|publisher=Economy.gov.ru|access-date=17 September 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917214129/http://economy.gov.ru/wps/wcm/connect/cf224939-c861-4a3d-8d37-1a11d3bb36ca/archlist2016.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=cf224939-c861-4a3d-8d37-1a11d3bb36ca|archive-date=17 September 2017}}

The company was associated with the export of Soviet design calculators, Electronika being one brand that was exported, rebranding them as ELORG products.[http://www.taswegian.com/MOSCOW/contentsassorted.html Museum of Soviet Calculators on the Web - Export and Foreign] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060615093316/http://www.taswegian.com/MOSCOW/contentsassorted.html |date=2006-06-15 }}, accessed June 1, 2006 Elorg also marketed the Agat computer,{{cite journal|title=New Chips|journal=Byte Magazine|date=1984|volume=9|issue=12|url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1984-11/1984_11_BYTE_09-12_New_Chips#page/n135/mode/1up|access-date=17 September 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217095727/https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1984-11/1984_11_BYTE_09-12_New_Chips#page/n135/mode/1up|archive-date=17 February 2017}} and imported IBM computers into the Soviet Union, starting with the IBM System/360 Model 50 in 1971.{{cite news|title=Чаепитие в честь 20 лет IBM на российском рынке|url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/6669|access-date=17 September 2017|date=7 September 1992|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170918020958/https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/6669|archive-date=18 September 2017}}

Robert Maxwell pressured Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev to cancel the contract between Elorg and Nintendo concerning the rights to the game franchise Tetris.{{Cite book |last=Ichbiah |first=Daniel |title=La Saga des Jeux Vidéo |language=fr |year=1997 |publisher=Pix'N Love Editions |edition=1st |page=95 |isbn=2266087630}}

In 1991, as the Soviet Union was being dissolved, Elorg was turned into a private business by its director, Nikolai Belikov.{{cite book|last1=Books|first1=Worth|title=Summary and Analysis of The Tetris Effect: The Game that Hypnotized the World: Based on the Book by Dan Ackerman|date=2017|publisher=Open Road Media|isbn=9781504008716|page=30|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FpmxDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT30|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921214120/https://books.google.com/books?id=FpmxDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT30|archive-date=2017-09-21}} Elorg was sold to The Tetris Company in January 2005 for $15 million.{{cite web|title=CASE NO. 12-2-23972-0 SEA|url=http://www.summitlaw.com/uploads/pdf/2014-07-17-belikov-memorandum-opinion.pdf|website=Summitlaw.com|access-date=21 September 2017|page=5|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921214120/http://www.summitlaw.com/uploads/pdf/2014-07-17-belikov-memorandum-opinion.pdf|archive-date=21 September 2017}}