Alexei Kosygin’s Reform and Changes to Industrial Management From October 1964 to October 1965

The article analyzes the changes to industrial management that Alexei Kosygin devised and which have been a frequent topic of modern historiography. However, the restoration of sectoral ministries, one of the most important elements, has not been fully studied in academic literature. Preparation for the changes came in two stages, the first began in late 1964 and the second was completed in 1965. The collective leadership that came immediately after Khrushchev’s resignation had no ready-made plan. A comprehensive strategy began to take shape only after the formation of the Kosygin Commission at the end of 1964. The government took the first practical steps in 1965 when state committees for defense were transformed into ministries that were to supervise the enterprises previously under the Council of National Farms. Kosygin then presented a detailed plan for overhauling industrial management by creating ten sectoral ministries with nationwide authority and by expanding the role of the State Planning Committee. However, Brezhnev resisted taking industrial management functions away from the various regions in part because two thirds of the Soviet economy was already under the control of the Council of Ministers. In late 1965 the Kosygin Commission proposed a new plan abolishing the sovnarkhoses (regional economic councils formed under Khrushchev) and placing industries under the ministries, although the enterprises themselves would remain within the jurisdiction of the separate republics of the Soviet Union. These half-hearted measures made industrial management nominally more centralized, but the ministries lacked the power to impose far-reaching and binding solutions on enterprises.

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