Modernization of industry is key to accelerating economic growth.

: fpther avenue is automation and
6 eetion of production. The level
will Pe nuion in the national economy
ble Ae on the average. For exam-
+, J€ number of industrial robots is
be trebled during these five years.

Socialism’s historic advantage

Unlike capitalism, where, in the final
ty Is, the great achievements of
“cont aa and technology aggravate social
Bons. in the hands of the
aa Ist state they are a powerful lever
fansforming society. Here socialism
4 historic advantage, and must use

a Rute
ee out that rapid progress in
if hi ce and technology calls for a con-
fi Sus and growing renewal of scien-
© ideas and developments Ryzhkov
és €d on the questions of perfecting
of ok of the Academy of Sciences
Ne USSR, college and university
“atch, and sectoral research, including

Ose institutes attached to factories.

Stressed its orientation on

‘ating scientific and technological

Sess. The increase in capital invest-
‘ 'S to be substantially greater in the
lign vt five-year period (up to 170 bil-
ubicles: as compared to 125 billion
ae In 1981-1985). Total capital
Ments are to reach nearly one
a roubles.
a portant feature of the 12th five-.
i a period will be the considera-
- : Per cent, growth in capital invest-
r Sin the engineering complex. That
“ie the material foundation for
_ ‘tating scientific and technological
Stess, Ryzhkov pointed out.
Mong the key sectors, the fuel and
‘ih complex will get special atten-
3 third of all capital investments
mm © allocated to the agro-industrial
Plex,
" characteristic feature of the new
tet Year plan is the emphasis it puts on
i ng and modernising existing pro-
ie facilities. The share of capital
Ments for these purposes is to
from 37 per cent in 1980 to 50 per
To 1990. :
“Uching on the problems of raising

nis four-page supplement was
+p, “Uced by the Soviet Embassy
Ss Office, Ottawa, Ontario.

the efficiency of capital construction, :
Ryzhkov said that many unresolved
problems have accumulated in this
sphere over the years. First and fore-
most, we must clamp down on the frag-
mentation of financial resources. More
than 300,000 large and small construc-
tion projects are underway throughout
the country. That is an impermissible
number, even taking our enormous size
into account. Projects are always put
into operation later than scheduled as a
consequence of fragmentation.

Nuclear power to double

Speaking on the structural policy, the
speaker pointed out that the most sub-
stantial changes are expected in engi-
neering. By 1990 the annual renewal of
engineering products is to be brought up
to 13 per cent, as compared to 4.5 per
cent in 1985.

Major shifts in the structure of the
fuel-and-energy balance are also to be
carried out. By the end of the five-year
period nuclear power stations will nearly
double their share of power production
and will account for more than 20 per
cent of the total amount generated.

The share of natural gas in the fuel
and energy resources is to increase to
38 per cent of the total. The state of
affairs in oil extraction, especially in
west Siberia, requires substantial im-
provement. In the coal industry, open-
cast mining, especially in the eastern
regions, should be expanded. Retooling
and modernisation of the collieries in the
old coal mining areas, in the first place,
in the Donetsk and Kuznetsk basins,
should also be continued.

In 1986-1990 closer and better-coor-
dinated interaction among the branches
within the agro-industrial complex will
be achieved. That must bring fruit. It is
planned to bring the output of grain to
250-255 million tons and that of meat
to 21 million tons. High assignments
were set in other directions of imple-
menting the food programme.

Great attention in our plans is paid to
consumer goods output targets. The
task is to bring the light and local indus-
tries, services and trade to the forefront
of technological progress, to accelerate
the development of these branches.
Thus, it is planned to increase the manu-
facture of consumer goods by 30 per
cent over the coming five years, that is,
to ensure a greater growth rate here than
in industrial production as a whole,
Ryzhkov stressed.

He outlined plans' for improving the
deployment of the productive forces in

the country, and noted that each of the
Soviet republics would make a substan-
tial contribution to the economic growth
of the country. The draft guidelines
provide, in part, for the siting of energy-
intensive industrial facilities near fuel
and energy producers, first of all in
Siberia, and for increasing the number
of workplaces in regions having the
requisite manpower resources, particu-
larly in the Central Asian republics.

Ryzhkov paid great attention to
questions of improving the system of
control and the methods. of manage-
ment. He pointed out that the need for
improving the system of control was
in many ways underestimated until
recently. The bias towards old, mainly
administrative methods kept taking the
upper hand. The sluggishness of thought
inevitably engendered stagnation in
work.

The party, he said, has drawn the due
conclusions. In the coming years we will
have to persevere in developing an inte-
grated system of control, to consistently
adjust the elements of the economic
mechanism, and look for more effective
forms and methods of planning, and of
stimulating and organising production.

One of the most important tasks in
these five years is to introduce new
methods of management in all branches
of the economy. By now enterprises
turning out half of the industrial
products are operating along new lines
(experimental), and as of 1987, all
industrial enterprises, and transport as
well, will operate on these principles.

Commenting on the importance of
cost accounting, he noted that its prin-
ciples — the direct dependence of remu-
neration for work on its results, the
impossibility to offset mismanagement
in some places with good performance
in others, an end to the petty tutelage
of work collectives and others — should
become a rule of work for Soviet enter-
prises. The country: is expecting a good
deal from industrial ministries too, and
the tasks for them are formulated in a
new way: They should become the head-
quarters of scientific and technical
progress in their sectors.

Trade must expand

Turning to external economic rela-
tions, the chairman of the Council of
Ministers of the USSR stressed the
urgent need for an energetic expansion
of economic, scientific and technologi-
cal contacts between states and their
participation in the international
division of labour. :

He noted that the basis of the exter-
nal economic relations of the USSR was
its interaction with the CMEA member
countries, and stated that the USSR also
favoured cooperation with developed
capitalist states.

Here we see considerable potential,
said Ryzhkov. And that applies to prac-
tically all types of relations — commer-
cial, scientific, technical, finance and
credits, etc. To be sure, cooperation has
to be two-way. Here, mutual interest
must be strictly considered, and all

restrictions, boycotts and embargoes
completely renounced. In the modern
world, economic relations can only be
based on equal rights, trust, and strict
observance of mutual agreements. To
behave contrary to this, subordinating
commercial and economic ties to un-
seemly political aims is tantamount to
trying to hold up world progress. The
experience of history has shown that
such attempts are futile.

He touched on the questions of social
development and improvements in the
people’s well-being in the 12th five-year
period. The growth of the economy and
of its efficiency, as envisaged in the cur-
rent five-year plan, is laying a reliable
basis for a substantial advance in car-
rying out the programme objectives of
the CPSU, those of raising the standards
of living of the Soviet people to a
qualitatively new level.

The report examined in detail prob-
lems of serious changes in the condi-
tions, character and content of labour.
In the new five-year period the scale
and rate of: the reduction of manual,
unskilled labour must be raised by at
least 100 to 200 per cent. The technical
retooling of production is also directed
to improving the conditions of labour.

Kids medicine free

It is a task of tremendous social and
economic significance to step up the
impact of the system of remuneration,
the speaker went on. New basic rates
and salaries in the various fields of
material production will be introduced
in just five years. They are to be raised
an average of 25 to 30 per cent. The
wages and salaries of people employed
in non-productive fields — teachers,
doctors:and other medical personnel,
employees at cultural institutions and
higher educational establishments —
will be raised.

Special importance has always been
attached in the USSR to the improve-
ment of conditions for the life and edu-
cation of children, Ryzhkov continued.
The assistance given by the state to fam-
ilies with children will be expanded and
further developed in the next five-year
period. In particular the paid one-year
leave to mothers to look after young
children will be extended by another half
a year, and all medicine for children up
to three years of age will be free. The
problem of accommodations at pre-
school child-care centres will be resolved
within the next few years. :

The solution of the housing problem
is a matter of constant concern for the
party. Good results: have already been
achieved here but the problem remains
acute. It is planned to build new hous-
ing totalling 565-570 million square
metres during the five years.

Ryzhkov noted that the tasks the
country has set out to accomplish meet
the vital interests of the Soviet people,
and said in conclusion that their fulfil-

. ment meant the further strengthening of

the potential of the Soviet country and
the consolidation of the positions of
socialism and world peace.

Name

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of Mikhail Gorbachyov’s Report
to the 27th CPSU Congress
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