Germany, which was provided 27 months to finish delivery of its goods, procrastinated as long as possible.
[133] Germany did initially deliver some floating cranes, five aircraft, an electrode shop, several gun turrets (with fire control apparatuses and spare parts), two submarine periscopes and additional ship construction tools.
[156] A few months later it delivered a sample of its harvest technology.
[148] Labor shortages caused by German rearmament pushes also slowed Germany's ability to export material.
[157] By the end of June, Germany had only delivered 82 million Reichsmarks in goods (including 25 million for the
Lutzow) of the 600 million Reichsmarks in Soviet orders place by that time.
[158]
Delivery suspension
By August 1940, Germany was 73 million Reichsmarks behind on deliveries due under
the 1940 commercial agreement.
[148]The Soviet Union had provided over 300 million Reichsmarks worth of raw materials, while the Germans provided less than half of that in finished products for compensation.
[148]
That month, the Soviet Union briefly suspended its deliveries after their relations were strained following disagreement over policy in the Balkans, the
Soviet Union's war with Finland (from which Germany had imported 88.9 million Reichsmarks in goods in 1938
[12]), the German commercial delivery failures and with Stalin worried that Hitler's war with the West might end quickly after
France signed an armistice.
[159] At that time, the Soviet also canceled all long range projects under the 1940 commercial agreement.
[148]
.........
Soviet willingness to deliver increased in April, with Hitler telling German officials attempting to dissuade him of attack that concessions would be even greater if 150 German divisions were on their borders.
[191] Stalin greeted Schnurre at the Moscow railroad station with the phrase "We will remain friends with you – in any event."
[190] The Soviets also deferred to German demands regarding Finland, Romania and border settlements.
[190] In an April 28 meeting with Hitler, German ambassador to Moscow
Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg stated that Stalin was prepared to make even further concessions, including up to 5 million tons of grain in the next year alone, with Acting Military Attache Krebs adding that the Soviets "will do anything to avoid war and yielded on every issue short of making territorial concessions."
[190]
Stalin also attempted a further cautious economic appeasement of Germany, shipping items in May and June for which German firms had not even placed orders.
[185] German officials concluded in May that "we could make economic demands on Moscow which would even go beyond the scope of the treaty of January 10, 1941."
[185] That same month, German naval officials stated that "the Russian government is endeavoring to do everything to prevent a conflict with Germany."
[185] By June 18, four days before the German invasion, the Soviet had even promised the Japanese that they could ship much greater totals along the Trans-Siberian Railway.
[185]
Soviet rubber shipments greatly increased in later months, filling up German warehouses and the Soviet transports systems.
[192] 76% of the total of 18,800 tons of vital rubber sent to Germany was shipped in May and June 1941.
[193] 2,100 tons of it crossed the border only hours before the German invasion began.
[192]