REORGANIZATION OF GOSPLAN USSR AND IMPROVEMENT OF NATIONAL ECONOMIC PLANNING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000700240198-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 11, 2011
• Sequence Number: 198
• Publication Date: January 20, 1956
• Content Type: REPORT

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STAT
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REORGANIZATION OF GOSPLAN USSR
AND It~ROVr~1n^NT OF NATIONAL ECONOMIC PLANNING
Planovoye Khozvavstvo, No 3
Moscow, May_Jun 1955
By virtue oi' a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet USSR of 25
1'~y 1955, the State Planning Committee of the Council of Ministers USSR has
been reorganized into: a State Commission of the Council of Ministers USSR
for Longterm National Economic Planning (Gosplan USSR) and a State Economic
Commission of the Council of Ministers USSR for Current National Economic
Planning (Cosekonomkomissiya USSR). This reorganization, which is predicated
on the task of bringing about a radical improvement in the field of long-
term national economic planning, meets the new increased demands being made
upon the planning organizations by the existing scalo of national economy
and the new tasks confronting it, and is designed to contribute to an im-
pmvement in state planning as a whole.
The tremendous industrial strides and higher technological level achieved
in the USSR, the increasing complexity of the economic relations between
branches of the economy and the country's [territorial] regions, the tasks
demanding extensive development of the national econosly, the rapid tech-
nological prbgress in all its branches, and, on that basic, a further rise
in the material prosperity of the workers -- are confronting national eco- ~
nomic planning with new and greater demands, particularly in the field of
long-term planning. However, the level of state panning and the activities
and organization of Gosplan USSR have lately failed to correspond to the
increased scope and the new tasks of the national economy. The reorgani-
zation of C;osplan USSR, decided upon by the party and the government, is
aimed at the elimination of defects in the work of the planning organizations
and at improving planning operations generally.
The division of Cosp.Lan USSR into a state planning commission for long-
term planning and a state economic commission for current planning makes it
possible to separate long-term planning from current panning, so as to bring
about a radical improvement in the former. At the same time, the reorgani-
zation is creating the conditions necessary to achieve a proper combination
of both current and long-term planning, inasmuch as the two organs -- Coaplan
USSR and Gosekonomkomissiya USSR -- must complement one another and coor-
dinate their work.
The function of Cosplan USSR consists of the drafting of the 5-year
national economic plans, and of longer range -- 10 to 15 year -- plans
encompassing the economy as a whole as well as its individual branches. It
must ensure correct proportionality in the development of individual eco-
nomic branches, and work out a plan for the effective distribution of pro-
ductive capacities. The drafting of long-term plans must provide the Soviet
people with a clear perspective of moving forward on the road to Communism,
and indicate when the USSR starts to overtake the capitalist countries in
per-capita production in a given industry. The working out of concrete,
scientifically based means of resolving this basic economic goal of~the
USSR is one of the most important responsibilities of Gosplan USSR. -
Gosekonomkomissiya USSR is charged with the drafting of the annual
national economic plans and material-technical supplyr plans, broken down
into quarterly periods. It must draft the annual plans in such a way so
as to ensure fulfillment of the 5-year plan goals, the correct proportion-
ality in the development of the various branches of the national economy,
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and large-scale introduction of advanced technology and industrial organi-
zation by utilizing the achievements of science and technology both do-
mestic and foreign. Cosekonomkomissiya is called upon to ensure the most
efficient utilization of all material, technical, and labor resources
toward the fulfillment of plans for national economic development.
The reorganization will enable Gosplan USSR to concentrate its efforts
on 5-year and longer range planning, as well as on large-scale national
economic problems of a long-term nature.
Soviet economic planning must reflect the requirements of the objec-
tive laws of socialism and, primarily, of the 'oasic economic law of so-
cialism and the lax of the proportionate development of the national econ-
omy. The objective economic laws of socialism, on which the Communist
Party and the Soviet government base its administration of the national
economy, serve to bring out the importance of longterm planning along
with current planning, inasmuch as the socialist economy is pursuing its
proportionate development in accordance with the scientifically Pounded
historical task of building a ComJnunist society. Soviet plans do not
represent prognostications, or guesswork, but are plans -- directives
covering a number of years. Therefore, the work of national economic
planning can be successful only if it is accompanied by scientifically
worked-out plans; pursuant to the dictates of the objective economic laws
of socialism, which mobilize the creative activities of the masses for
the purposr. of resolving the long-term economic-political toss posed by
the Communist Party.
The entire history of socialist construction in the USSR has demon-
strated the mobilizing and the organizing force of the 5-year plans, which
help to resolve the most important economic-political tasks at each stage
in the process of building socialism and Communism in the USSR. A further
development and improvement in long-term planning; to conform to the present-
day increased scope and new tasks of the national economy of the USSR, call
for a decidedly higher economic and scientific-technical level of work.
Gosplan USSR must ensure a thoroughgoing, scientifically founded drafting
of the S-year national economic plans that will provide for the wide-
spread introduction of advanced technology in all fields of production, as
well as For improved technological processes and organization of pro-
duction and labor, thereby bringing about a rapid rise in labor produc-
tivity and lower production costs. Gosplan USSR must undertake a thorough
study of scientific and technical accomplistuuents both at home and abroad,
anticipate further technological developments, and bring them into focus in
the long-term plans, with a view to the highest possible increase in labor
productivity and continuous growth of socialist production consistent with
the steadily expandint; wants of socialist society. The 5-year plans must
be drawn up for ministries, union republics, and economic regions, with a
breakdown into annual goals, and frith corresponding 'oalance estimates and
base data.
The mosC important work facing Gosplan USSR, the ministries, and the
planning organs of the union republics, at present, is the drafting of the
Sixth Five-Year Plan. The Sixth Five-Year P]ar. will represent a new great
step on the road to resolving the basic economic tasks of the USSR and the
building of Communism. The fulfillment of this plan will mean a further
great increase in the economic power of the USSR, based on the predominant
development of heavy industry and technological progress in all branches
of production. It will also mean the implementation of the program of the
Communist Party for a steep rise in agricultural production, a further
significant increase in the production of consumer goods, and a rise in
the material and the cultural standard of living of the workers.
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In drafting the new ~-year plan, Gosplan US:;R, the ministries, and re-
public planning organs must concentrate on the tasks of introducing new tech-
niques in all branches of industry, and on the wide dissemination of advanced
production methods, including tF,e achievements of innovators, as well as on
increasing labor productivity and reducing pzoduction costs. This calls for
a careful study and the bringing into play of the great internal reserves
hidden in the national economy. One oP the most important tasks in connection
with increasing labor productivity is the expanded mechanization of labor-
consuming operations; the introauction of complex mechanization into pro-
duction processes in industry, construction, and agriculture; and the further
development of automatization in s number of branches of industry.
At present, when the SovieC ruction, under the leadership of the Com-
munist Partv, is solving the problems connected with the gradual transition
from socialism to Communism, exceptionally great irnportsnce is attached, ir.
addition to the 5-year plans, to the draftin~~ of long-tezmt plans for indi-
vidual branches and the national economy as a whole designed for longer
periods of 10 to 15 years. mhis wort, calls foz? a profound scientific arral-
ysls of the direction and the prospects characterizing the development of
production techniques and technology in the various branches of the economy,
and of the level and dynamics of production with respect to basic types of
output, primarily metals, electric powr:r, the most important types of fuel,
cement, and machine buildin:~, in relation to per-capita production in the
USSR and in the chief capitalist countries. Long-tezTn planning calls for
Gosplan USSR to work out a series of important national economic problems
related to the further development, and utilization in industry of the latest
achievements in the fields of science and technology, along with the most
efficient utilization of the rich natural resources of the country.
The sine qua non of economic planning is the correct territorial dis-
position of Industry. Gosplan USSR must plan an efficient distribution of
productive capacities, taking into consideration the complex developmental
needs of economic regions, the necessity of moving enterprises closer tc
the sources of raw materials and consumitg region:;, as well as the importance
oi' eliminating long-distance and crosz hauls. A planned dispersal of pro-
ductive capacities is one oi' the most important advantages of the socialist
form of economy that tnaite possible the utmost efficiency is the utilization
of ,the country's natural wealth and its material and labor resources. During
the period covered by the 5-year plans, the USSR has witnessed a decided
improvement in the territorial disposition of industry, the establishment
of mighty industrial bases in the country's eastern regions, the elimination
of economic backwardness of the national republics, and the contradictions
between agrarian and industrial regions. However, there still remain some
defects in the disposition of enterprises, necessitatir~ excessively long
hauls, cross hauls, etc. These defects must be overcome through a compre-
hensive development of the country's economL~ regions and by moving enter-
prises closer to raw tm terial sources and consuming regions. These tasks
cannot be resolved by current plantrirg alone, since they involve the con-
struction of new large-scale enterprises and the further development of the
transportation network, as well the placing of interregional economic re-
lations on a rational footing,. All these questions must be reflected in
both the 5-year and longer-term National economic plan;. Therefore, a de-
cided improvement iu planning the distribution'of productive capacities,
founded on a sound economic basis, is one of the train tasks confronting
Gosplan USSR.
In n speech before the Ali_Uaion Conference of Industrial Workers, N. S.
Khrushchev has pointed out that the USSR must plan for industry not only
on a nation-wide scale but also by individual economic regions. In this
connection, the t+orlcit>:pard the utilization of natural resources,
prospects of the further development of the metallurgical industry in the
country's eastern regions, the distribution of agricultural production
according to the country's geographic and economi:: zones, and a number of
other problems connected with ti,e disposition of industry and the over-all
development of economic regions and union republics.
An important tusl: is to ensure proper specialization on the part of
enterprises, and large-scale cooperation between enterprises whether under
the ,jurisdiction of the same ministry or of different ministries, partic-
ularly within the confines of the countzy's tasi:: economic regions. Such
specialization an3 cooperation on the part cf enterprises will contribute
to a more complete utilization oi' the productive capacities of enterprises,
to an iraprovemcnt in productiot; techniques, and tc the elimination of ex-
c_ssively long hauls and cress haul:;. These rases must be resolved through
u crmbir;ation of long-term and current plannin;~.
The national econom`:? plans mu.r. !,c :.rafteri in such a n:rnner as to
face into a? ec;n', rig.. r,u_.:~ u? ;..rther :?srcrt~cher.ing cccnetaic cooperation
uecwcen the USSR and the People's In:mocracies, an3 coordination of the
r,atioral e.:orcmic plans ar.d mut.~l ass istanee in the economic development
o: country's in the democratic ca:?:.p,
The scientific method of drafting; any natioral economic plan, annual
u=' '-w,g-teem, presupposes a sound v::onomic 'oasis built cn s system of tm-
terial balances, financial balances, and an over-all national economic
balance. The significance of the balance t;ethcd for planning purposes
lies in the fact tlw t it affords an opportunity oi' anti_ipatin;, the neces-
sary propartior,ality bet?aeen the vulu:ne of production and the ever-growing
raterial and cultural ?aants o1' society, of determnins the actual propor-
t_ons essential to the development of inuividual branches o}' the economy,
and of promptly brir:.;.rii; to light any disproportions in the econotgy.
Gosplan USSR is charged with the duty rf ens:u?Ing, in the long-term plans,
corre::t proportionality iu the development cf individual branches of the
rurti.onal ecununy -- industry, agr!culture, and transport, extractive, and
processi[y-; industry --?aiti, particular emphasis on the production of the
means of production; as well as correct proportionality between production,
(capitol] acc,u:;uLztion, and consutapticn, ro:;plnn USSR must plan the stock-
piling of material reserves which a:?e essential. to an uninterrupted and
unimpeded development oi' social production r_s a ?ahcle. The tnsl: ahead is
to raise the economic level of bulancin~ oocraticus both in Gosplan USSR
and in Gesel:onotnromissiya USSR, to eliminate the defecCs in this important
economic sector, end to ensure u Geuuiuely scientifi:: draftin,~ oY a system
oi' materia.l, labor, and financial balances, us wirll as of planning balances
for the national econe:ny as a whole,
An important plxe~ in the wu:?'r: e Gcspla:. UuSIt and Gcscronornkcraiasiya
USSR must be assigned cc the systernatic checking cf plan _u1fi1L?nent and
prompt measures to ensure such plan 1'uli'i1]ment. i7utionai economic plaruting,
as is lmown, is act cerfined to the drafting of n.Lans alone, but includes
the orgahization oi' their irnplrtaentation and :;ysternaticsupervision over
fulfillment progress both as to indivi9ua.1 goals nna the plan as a whole.
Only through the checr:it>E; of plan fulfillment is it possible to prevent
violations of planned goals and the emergence of disproportions in one or
another sector of the economy, ant to discover and bring into action addi-
t.ional reserves for the successful fulfillment of national plans.
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CQaplan USSR mu:;t check on the i'u1filLzent of loner -term national e
nomic Plans and the crordiration of annual national economic draft plans
?.+ith the lot cQ
to check on annual Plnn. The :Host important tang of Gose;;onoml:omissiya i
?r4f, work out Plan fulfillment, reveal new reserves within the c
problems affe
ti
J
c
oon-
ng annt:al plan fulfilLneat, and submit pr?o_
posals concerning the utilization of additional material resources uncovered
in the course of plan fulfillment? .'!s stated by t1, ;;, I:hrushchev in his
speech before the All-Union Conference of Industrial Worriers, in the imple-
mentation of current planning it is necessary to display rnnximum flexibility
and a creative approach, This becomes necessary, because even the most
ideally drafted plan will undergo corrections in the process of its ful-
fillr,:ent, broty;ht about ty the g;rowin,; creative initiative and activity
on the part of the wor::era en,;ar;uu in the execution of the planned
Therefore, a correct, worrablc, and creative approach to current planning
will be of goals.
well gt'eat importance from Che :aandpoint Qf lo:tr;-term planni
n~ Trom the standpoint of reflecting ir. the lor.,_t nL', as
exi.::tirtl; national-economic reaer:es un;i any additional resoPrIICS thattrnny
i;e ur:covered in tl:e cuurce of plan irrple:aentntion.
In ccnncction with the reorganization of Gocnlan USSP, ant the need
t.o improve ion ?-t
[; errn national er oncmic
:Host be rculc on the :;ate Plarming, new and increased
::Lorteat possi'olc ~ atatist'~~al orgsnizations to overcome r demands
'ime the suriouc uefcct, in their wcrk? n the
rite Ccn':ral :itutiatical,;dmini~trat`on hu_: f
cn cur??; _ Up to the orceent,
ur t stn tit: tics, without :tre ari -...u?`,. its attention primarily
longrrr periods, thereb? be, P ~: adequate over-all figure:: to cover
plant,it ~ ru;; of lithe help in tire; matter of to
k~? 'Phi:: organization must impr~we its work considernbl ~-term
all, In the field of .long;-rank economic atutly;is
in aorY,i Y, first of
out rtatiotml-economic accounting balnrcei? s~atistical data, and
used in comparative analysis oS' the economies of the~U;;^, well as the data
tnl.iat c:o~tntries? Rand the capi_
'ihe tas}; Qf bringing; about a radical irrq,ruvemunt in long-term plauaing
is also confronting the Sovier. scientific itstitutionts, especially those
which are active in ;.her t"_elde of technolo;;y, a?ronomy
;,Quiet plans are scientific plans; the follow L ' acrd economics.
Cificnlly proven economic laws anu must fully tale intgolaccount theslatest
scier.Cii'ic and technological achievements as well us the e:cperience of
innovators in industry. In addition, they, are back; Qtr the advanced norms
Qf productive capnciLy utilization, rtrd er, n :,y~tem of ,h
and synthetic; balances. 'Phe taa:: ce;ufrontirt;; Gc:,plnn U~>SRJi~31 [material]
thorough study of, and iaccrnorate in the plan;, to rake a
technological achievemeuta at hoar a::d ubrcuci, anahre:quiret,sone~t~caleand
greater than bei'ore, the enlisi;aicr,t of the ;cienttfic institutions in the
work of national economic plunnirt,;, particularly oi' the :lcndemy of Science
USSR and its institutes, and cl' aCiiaaists and speciali:as in tha various
branches of scienw . It is necessary to improve radically and expand the
work in the field cf e~_oncr.ic :; t: ,.1ic