However, a former Soviet scientist now in Israel, 

 Professor M. Perakh, writes that there has been wide- 

 spread illicit use of foreign patents and know-how. 

 Soviet scientists often use, he claims, Western pat- 

 ents and other data as a basis for research proposals, 

 without acknowledging these sources to financing bod- 

 ies or to their administrative superiors. The R&D 

 then replicates results already achieved abroad with- 

 out superior authorities or potential Soviet users of 

 the R&D being aware of this fact. 120 



In any case, the thrust of official policy in the 

 1970s was increasingly to make foreign technology ac- 

 quisition an explicit variable in R&D policy planning 

 and world standards a specific criterion for evaluat- 

 ing and improving Soviet R&D performance. This ap- 

 plies particularly to priority projects. Thus, the 

 division of the plan that deals with the basic S&T 

 problems includes a listing of the assignments that 

 are to be carried out on a collaborative basis with 

 other CEMA countries and those that are to be com- 

 pleted by means of foreign patents and technology. We 

 have also seen that the "technical level charts" de- 

 veloped for each priority problem require comparative 

 evaluations of the projected new technology with the 

 best domestic and foreign technology. 



In addition, a special division devoted to the 

 sale of Soviet patents abroad and to the purchase of 

 foreign patents and technology has recently been ad- 

 ded to both the annual and five-year plans for devel- 

 opment of science and technology. This division fix- 

 es five year quotas for the receipts of foreign cur- 

 rency from sales of Soviet patents for the USSR as a 

 whole, for the republics, and for each ministry. Pro- 

 visions are established for each ministry to give 

 technical assistance to foreign firms in the assimi- 

 lation of technologies obtained under Soviet patents 

 and to deliver special equipment and materials for 

 startup of production. The plans for purchasing for- 

 eign licenses and technology stipulate the kinds of 

 technology to be imported and the amount of foreign 

 exchange required to pay for it. Ministerial plans 

 spell out in detail the foreign firms to be dealt 



151 



