Gosgeolizdat (State Publishing House of Geological Literature) was the publishing arm of the Geological Commission of the Sovnarkom (Council of People’s Commissars) of the USSR – later the Ministry of Geology. According to Soviet-era published sources, Gosgeolizdat was in existence by 1932. The Cartographic printing plant that served as a contract printer for the publishing house was under VSEGEI (All-Russian Research Geological Institute), and it was the leading cartographic institution of the Ministry of Geology.