268i 
The Ministry of Geology also has ocean management and policy 
interests and has been represented by Soviet delegates to United Na- 
tions discussions. The Ministry oversees prospecting organizations and 
research institutions in offshore mineral studies. In the 1960’s the 
Ministry developed a research fleet to conduct studies of the continen- 
tal shelf. In 1967 the Institute of Marine Geology and Geophysics 
(VNIIMORGEO) was organized under the Ministry with branches 
throughout the country.® 
The Main Administration of Hydrometeorlogical Services has signifi- 
cant ocean interests through its forecasting services and provision 
of important weather and water level forecasts. The Service has coastal 
observation stations as well as research institutes and ships. Both 
the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialized Education and the 
U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences have ongoing ocean interests through 
the research activities they supervise. 
Another level of the Soviet government, the state committees under 
the Council of Ministers, provides important coordinating and planning 
assistance fo the ministries. Gosplan is in charge of long term and 
current planning on a national scale. Its main tasks are to ensure 
correct economic proportions and links, to increase efficiency, and 
to work in coordination. Gosplan has departments for individual indus- 
trial sectors, and there is a special division for fisheries. The State 
Committee for Science and Technology coordinates and supervises 
the work of research establishments in the Soviet Union. It is con- 
cerned with formulating key research projects and directions, and 
ensuring the implementation of scientific and technological discoveries 
into production. It has a division, the Science Council on Ocean 
Research and Use of Ocean Resources headed by E. K. Federov.® 
Other state committees are involved in aspects of ocean administration 
and policymaking. The State Committee for Construction guides the 
technical policy in construction and drafts capital investment plans 
jointly with Gosplan. The State Committee for Labor and Wages 
and the State Committee for Prices work with the prices and distribu- 
tion of labor and products. Agencies under the Council of Ministers 
with ministerial status that operate in fields influencing ocean manage- 
ment are the Central Statistical Administration, which collects and 
analyzes data on the work of economic sectors and enterprises; the 
Board of the State Bank; and the Committee of Peoples’ Control. 
Important policy decisions and major economic issues will, of 
course, be decided by the top political leaders. The remaining issues 
of management and decisionmaking will be left to administrators, most 
of whom are in the government bureaucracy. The Soviet press presents 
abundant evidence that the administrators consider options in their 
attempt to design programs. Intra and interministerial discussions are 
publicized on technical and mangerial issues. Individual and bureau 
positions are shown to differ. One sees direct policy conflict less 
frequently. Agencies usually do not state open disagreement with the 
official Soviet position, but do indicate differing preferences. 
671. D. Papanin and Ye. M. Suzyumov, ‘The Development of the Soviet Research Fleet,” 
Oceanology no. 5, (1971): p. 658. 
68 Zaleski, p. 127. 
69 Sysoev, pp. 45-46. 
