SOVIET UNION EASTERN EUROPE

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Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP79T00865A002000070001-3
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RIPPUB
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S
Document Page Count: 
11
Document Creation Date: 
December 12, 2016
Document Release Date: 
July 18, 2001
Sequence Number: 
1
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Publication Date: 
October 20, 1975
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NOTES
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PDF icon CIA-RDP79T00865A002000070001-3.pdf302.72 KB
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Approved For Release 2001/08/08 : CIA-RDP79T00865A002000QZ0001-3 ecret NOFORN Soviet Union Eastern Europe Secret October 20, ::975 SC No. 00528,"75 Approved For Release 2001/08/08 : CIA-RDP79T00865A002000070001-3 Approved For Release 2001/08/08 : CIA-RDP79T00865AO02000070001-3 Warning Notice Sensitive Intelligence Sources and Methods Involved NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION Unauthorized Disclosure Subject to Criminal Sanctions Classified by 010725 Exempt from general declassification schedule of E.O. 11652, exemption category: ? 5B(1). (2), and (3) Automatically declassified on: Date Impossible to Determine DISSEMINATION CONTROL ABBREVIATIONS NOFORN- Not Releasable to Foreign Nationals NOCONTRACT- Not Releasable to Contractors or Contractor/Consultants PROPIN- Caution-Proprietary Information Involved USIBONLY- USIB Departments Only ORCON- Dissemination and Extraction of Information Controlled by Originator REL.. . - This Information has been Authorized for Release to ... Approved For Release 2001/08/08 : CIA-RDP79T00865AO02000070001-3 Approved For Release 2((19r:rCIk-RDP700865A002000070001-3 ORCON/NOCONTRACT SOVIET UNION - EASTERN EUROPE This publication is prepared for regional specialists in the Washington com- munity by the USSR - Eastern Europe Division, Office of Current Intel- ligence, with occasional contributions from other offices within the Directorate of Intelligence. Comments and queries are welcome. They should be directed to the authors of the individual articles. October 20, 1975 Moscow Ignores Anniversary of 1965 Economic Reform. . . . . . . . . . . . 1 :Romania: Plans To Increase Supplies of Food and Other Consumer Goods . . . . . . . 4 New RYAD Computer Model in Production. . . . . . 5 The Chnoupek-Bilak Rivalry, the Latest Round. . . . . . . . . . . 6 SECRET SPOKE Approved For Release 2001/08/08 : CIA-RDP79T00865AO02000070001-3 Approved For Release CSM-9T00865A002000070001-3 FBI5 TRENDS of 16 October 1975 Moscow Ignores Anniversary of 1965 Economic Reform The anniversary of the 27-30 September 1965 C:PSU plenum on Kosygin's economic reform has passed without notice in the Soviet press--a silence in striking contrast to the fanfare earlier this year on the 10th anniversary of the March 1965 plenum which launched Brezhnev's new agricultural program. This blackout probably reflects not only the cooling of official attitudes toward the 1965 economic re- form, but also Brezhnev's increasing attempts to reduce Kosygin's role as the chief administrator of economic policy, These efforts, evident since 1974, are also reflected in a series of new Central Com- mittee decrees which suggest that party officials are directly exercising functions normally handled by the Council of Ministers. The ignoring of the 10th anniversary of the September 1965 plenum is the more striking since Soviet calendars prepared earlier had noted the date. The blackout even included specialized economic papers such as ECONOMIC GAZETTE and SOCIALIST INDUSTRY and economic journals such as PLANNED ECONOMY and QUES- TIONS OF ECONOMICS, as well as all republic papers, including areas like Belorussia, which in the past had displayed notable enthusiasm for the reform. KOMMUNIST, instead of the expected anniversary ar- ticle, carried an editorial on Brezhnev's newly published collection of speeches on the economy. By contrast, the March 1965 agricultural plenum anniversary was marked with numerous editorials and articles, the publication of a special book and the holding of a well-publicized ceremony attended by October 20, 1975 Approved For Release 911 # 08TC&-R l;74T00865AO02000070001-3 Approved For Release 20@31p,,?1A110865A002000070001-3 several Politburo members. Moreover, regime figures (including Brezhnev) have participated in extensive celebrations over the past month marking the 40th anniversary of the Stakhanovite movement--an economic approach fundamentally at odds with that of the eco- nomic reform. Some foreshadowing of this imbalance in treat- ment of the two 1965 plenums was provided by the October 1974 celebration of the 10th anniversary of the October 1964 plenum which removed Khrushchev and placed Brezhnev and Kosygin in power. In almost all articles published to observe that occasion, the eco- nomic reform and Kosygin were ignored, while Brezhnev and his economic programs were eulogized at length.* Brezhnev has been increasingly asserting his role in economic policy over the past year. In Oc- tober 1974 he clearly infringed on Kosygin's well- established prerogatives by addressing the Council of Ministers on economic policy; in mid-1975 he be- came an economic authority in his own right with the publication of a collection of his speeches on the economy, matching Kosygin's published collection of speeches, most of which concentrate on economic mat- ters. The most recent indications of this trend have been several Central Committee decrees seemingly reflecting the assumption by the Central Committee of a role normally exercised by the Council of Min- isters. The decrees in question were followups to a 2 March 1973 joint Central Committee-Council of Min- isters decree which had ordered ministries to switch to a production association structure and submit See the TREND o 17 October 1974, page 6, and 27 November .1974, pages 23-25. October 20, 1975 Approved For Release 2009J 6 kA' I IAA$01T 0865A002000070001-3 Approved For Release 2bTCIFAWV7f00865A002000070001-3 schemes for such reorganization to the Council of Ministers for approval. According to Brezhnev's as- sistant, K. U. Chernenko, head of the Central Com- mittee's General Section, in the August QUESTIONS OF CPSU HISTORY, the Central Committee in May 1975 had issued decrees approving schemes prepared by three ministries. This is the first report of Cen- tral Committee decrees on this subject; previously, ministerial schemes were always reportedly approved by the Council of Ministers. IZVESTIYA on 6 September 1975 reported that the Council of Ministers had re- cently approved the schemes for the three ministries, presumably following the Central Committee action. This procedure appears to reflect an unusual inter- vention by the party leadership into the normal gov- ernment chain of command; it violated not only the normal division of party and government functions but also the procedure specifically called for in the original, 2 March 1973 decree. (CONFIDENTIAL) October 20, 1975 AET SPOKE Approved For Release 20 / : CIA-RDP79T00865AO02000070001-3 Approved For Releascg"70j8 : U9T00865A002000070001-3 Romania: Plans to Increase Supplies ofFood and Ot ier Consumer Goods On 14 October, President Ceausescu announced extensive increases in the amounts of foodstuffs and consumer durables available through June 1976. Supplies of sugar, milk, and cooking oil--which have been particularly short--will expand by 6 to 11 percent for the remainder of this year compared with the last quarter of 1974. Meat and fruit, ready- made clothing, textiles, household items, and fuel will also be more abundant. To fulfill these goals, the Ministry of Agriculture has been ordered to expedite harvesting, particularly of corn, sugar beets, and potatoes. Other ministries have been told to deliver all consumer durables for the winter to trade units by November 1. Ceausescu's highly unusual bow to the public almost certainly means that he believes grocrinq consumer reaction to shortages had become critical in a number of areas. A recent US visitor to Bucharest who was prohibited from going to Brasov had heard rumors of "disturbances" there as a result of severe food shortages. (CONFIDENTIAL) October 20, 1975 Approved For Relea?d-k@'F&18'~PCP'R 79TO0865AO02000070001-3 Approved For Release6~t0a:A`&P`79T00865A002000070001-3 New RYAD Computer model in Production The Soviets recently said they have shipped the first lot of ES-1022 computers from the Minsk Computer Plant. The ES--1022 has replaced the ES-1020, a small model in the RYAD family of third-generation computers. The new RYAD model, which was developed at the Minsk Computer Institute, has an improved design with new arithmetic, logic, and memory components. The operational capability of the ES-1022 is said to be four times greater than that of its predecessor. This suggests that the new computer may be capable of an average speed of 80,000 operations per second. Production of the new computer should mute at- tacks on RYAD computers by Soviet critics who fre- csuently complain that the ES-1020 is too slow and is only a slight improvement over available second-gen- eration computers, such as the 11insk-32. Development of the ES-1022 leaves in doubt the fate of the ES-1030, another RYAD model, also rated at about 80,000 opera- tions per second. Possibly, the ES-1022 is intended to displace the ES-1030, which has drawn criticism because of poor components and workmanship, as well as the 1020. (UNCLASSIFIED) October 20, 1975 SECRET SPOKE Approved For Release 2001/08/08 : CIA-RDP79T00865AO02000070001-3 Approved For Release 200MiV*IA-1 00ii&865A002000070001-3 The Chnoupek-Bilak Rivalry, the Latest Round Czechoslvak Foreign minister Chnoupek appears to be gaining ground on his long-standing rival, Vasil Bilak, a hard-line Presidium member and the party's expert on foreign relations. this sum- mer there was talk within the oreign inistry that Chnoupek would be promoted to the Presidium at the party congress next April. Chnoupek is very likely to continue also as foreign minister--a status anal- ogous to that of Soviet Foreign Minister Gromyko. Chnoupek's elevation into the top leadership would undoubtedly annoy Bilak. Chnoupek recently complained that B1 a: is ma - Wing is life " impossible." While Chnoupek was at- tending the United Nations General Assembly in New York, for example, Bilak allegedly directed him to return to Prague on October 7 to deliver a foreign policy speech at the party plenum. The outraged Chnoupek says Bilak knew that he was to host a dinner the same day for UN Secretary General Waldheim. (SE- CRET NOFORN/ORCON/NOCONTRACT) October 20, 1975 Approved For Release 200(T08'~&-RUP7TU0865A002000070001-3 25X1D Approved For Release 2001/08/08 : CIA-RDP79T00865AO02000070001-3 Approved For Release 2001/08/08 : CIA-RDP79T00865AO02000070001-3 Approved For Release 2001/08/08 : CIA-RDP79T00865AO02000070001-3 Secret Secret Approved For Release 2001/08/08 : CIA-RDP79T00865AO02000070001-3