Soviet Military Administration in Germany
The Soviets had established central administration in their zone for nutrition, transport, jurisdiction, finance, and other areas already in July 1945, before the participants of the Potsdam Conference had officially agreed to form central German administrations. The central administrations (Zentralverwaltungen) in the Soviet zone were not a form of German self-government, but were rather subdivisions of the Soviet Military Administration in Germany (SVAG), which had the legislative power. The states in the Soviet zone had only limited functions.