The Council of Ministers, as the principal policy- 

 making organ of the government, has general responsi- 

 bility for organizing and administering all scientif- 

 ic, technical, and production activities in the So- 

 viet economy. As illustrated in Figure 9-1, all 

 state facilities ultimately report to the Council. 

 Overseeing the critical planning function is a ma- 

 jor occupation of the Council. Plans for all sub- 

 ordinate organs and facilities are derived from the 

 national plan, which is inspired, prepared under the 

 guidance of, and approved by the Council of Minis- 

 ters. In the sphere of R&D planning and management, 

 the scope and breadth of the Council's ultimate auth- 

 ority are illustrated by the following Soviet enu- 

 meration of pertinent Council responsibilities: 



1. General administration of R&D 



2. Resolution of all questions concerning the or- 

 ganization and administration of R&D 



3. Development of measures to improve the manage- 

 ment of R&D 



4. Examination and approval of the "main direc- 

 tions" of R&D 



5. Establishment of procedures for developing R&D 

 plans and for introducing research results in- 

 to the national economy 



6. Development of the plan for S&T progress 



7. Organization of S&T information 



8. Finance of R&D 



9. Resolution of questions on wages and working 

 conditions of scientists and engineers 



10. Training of scientific and engineering person- 

 nel 



11. Resolution of questions about copyright, pa- 

 tents, and laws on invention and discovery. 



31 



