instruments, and some delays are unavoidable. But 

 the main trouble lies in the notorious inefficiencies 

 of the Soviet supply system. Supply needs are not 

 automatically met through the allocation of financial 

 resources or through inclusion of R&D targets into 

 the S&T plans. Instead, these requirements are writ- 

 ten into the Plan for Material Supplies which is a 

 separate chapter of the state economic plan but not 

 always well integrated with it. If an item is not 

 included in the supply plan its procurement is always 

 protracted, if not impossible. This is especially 

 true for R&D facilities at production establishments 

 which lack priority status on the distribution list. 

 In general, though, scientific and engineering sup- 

 plies are scarce. Not only modern sophisticated hard- 

 ware but even simple articles, like test tubes and 

 measuring jars, are hard to come by. The whole sci- 

 entific instruments industry in the USSR is still 

 backward and undeveloped . 



In recent years, several steps have been taken to 

 remedy the supply problems of R&D organizations. Sev- 

 enty Moscow research institutes and design bureaus 

 belonging to 13 different ministries have been trans- 

 ferred — on an experimental basis — to nonallocated 

 supply status for the entire so-called "interminis- 

 try itemized list" of some 25,000 products through 

 the wholesale trade system. These facilities can ap- 

 parently now satisfy their supply needs much more 

 quickly than before. ^3 



Efforts have also been made to expand the circula- 

 tion and use of scarce equipment through the intro- 

 duction of a rental supply system on a limited re- 

 gional basis. At some R&D centers expensive measur- 

 ing or testing devices sit around in warehouses after 

 being used only once. Equipment and instruments pile 

 up in labs. Meanwhile, other organizations with less 

 political influence or professional prestige, like 

 the VUZy, plant labs, and design bureaus, are unable 

 to acquire the necessary apparatus and scientific 

 supplies to conduct their R&D projects. This is in 

 part due to defects in amortization procedures for 

 scientific equipment. A more important factor, how- 



103 



