243 
and industrial branch studies."'? An example of Gosplan work can 
be presented in the case of long-term planning. For a number of 
years, decrees and speeches by the party and government emphasized 
the need for and advantages of long-term planning. Gosplan and the 
Academy of Sciences have individually and jointly sponsored con- 
ferences on long-term planning. Changes were made in both organiza- 
tions’ structure. An Economic Forecasting Section was established 
in the Academy’s Institute of Economics and in Gosplan’s Economic 
Research Institute, and 56 temporary commissions were set up to 
make various types of forecasts.'!8 The 24th CPSU Congress Directives 
and Decrees of the Central Committee and the Council of Ministers 
set out the tasks for the developing a draft long-term national 
economic development plan for 1976-90. The U.S.S.R. Academy of 
Sciences, the State Committee for Science and Technology, and 
branch scientific research institutes of the ministries and agencies 
were to participate in identifying the development and timing of events 
and their effect on economic productivity. Gosplan, with the participa- 
tion of the Academy of Sciences, the State Committee for Science 
and Technology and Gosstroi U.S.S.R., were to analyze the prospects 
of different developments and possible directions of the economy in- 
tegrate proposals of the ministries and agencies into the long-term 
plan.’!? Gosplan is to work to overcome localism and narrow sectoral 
approaches. 
Gosplan, has not been completely successful in its operations. In 
the ocean field it has been criticized for the lack of proportional 
development and poor planning that results in the loss of millions 
of rubles. There are noticeable and severe leads and lags in such 
sectors as fleet development and port and shipyard capacity. Planning 
in a complex economy does not necessarily result in a single policy 
or coordinated development. 
THE STATE COMMITTEE FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 
One of the ongoing concerns in the Soviet Union has been the 
coordination of research and development and the introduction of 
scientific and technological discoveries in the economy. The weakest 
link in the chain connecting science to production is the conversion 
of scientific discoveries into the production process.’° The length 
of time spent in research, the duplication of work programs, the 
separation of scientific and industrial organizations, and the bu- 
reaucratic and other obstacles to implementation have long been 
themes in Soviet publications. The State Committee for Science and 
Technology under the U.S.S.R. Council of Ministers has responsibility 
for oversight and coordination in this field. 
"7M. Mitaishvili, (Deputy Director of the Institute of Complex Transport Problems under Gosplan 
U.S.S.R.) “A Container Transport System,” in Vodnyi Transport. December 13, 1973. The article 
describes studies of container traffic. Various institutions, ministries, agencies and organizations were 
instructed to study this field, and a Gosplan institute was designated as the lead organization for 
coordination. 
"8 Gertrude E. Schroeder, “Recent Developments in Soviet Planning and Incentives,” in U.S. Con- 
gress, Joint Economic Committee, Soviet Economic Prospects for the Seventies, p. 15. A Soviet 
writer also describes the establishment of an expert commission under Gosplan to study economic 
options in the location of a car manufacturing plant. See M. Troitskii, “At a New Stage,’ Novyi Mir, 
January 1975, p. 171. 
"°Kotov and Prostiakov. The article states that a difference of opinion exists on the role of 
forecasting in the national economic planning process. The authors promote long-term planning and 
the role of scientific research organizations in this process, pp. 20-3. 
0A. P. Kirilenko, “Speech to the Fourth All-Union Congress of Scientific and Technical Socie- 
ties,” Pravda, January 25, 1973. Trans. in FBIS, January 30, 1973, p. L. 1. 
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