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The results of new

reforms in USSR

| economic

By BERT WHYTE MOSCOW The Soviet Union’s eighth five-year plan, which has passed the halfway mark, has as its object the further growth of in- dustry, the advance of agricul- ture and the rise of the peoples’ Standards of living and culture. The lever used to ensure the Success of the plan is the new €conomic reform. The purpose of the reform is to raise efficien- Cy of production, improve cen- tralized planning while extend- , ing the independence and initia- tive of management and work-

production is not being utilized in full so far.”

The journal notes that the stepping up of scientific and technological progress in the whole national economy is di- rectly connected with the im- plementation of the economic reform. While the country can boast of some important achieve- ments, nevertheless “The mech- anization and automation level of auxiliary processes in some industries is far from being sa- tisfactory.”

A slap is taken at some un- named ministries: “We are sor-

During the first two years of the current five year-plan the Dnie- Propetrovsk tire works went 10 million roubles over the plan. This is @ finishing section of the plant.

€ts of factories and farms.

How are things going?

Th industry 22,800 plants’ have

SWitched over to the new sys- tem of planning and economic Mcentives. These enterprises ac- Count for more than 60 percent Of the entire industrial output. Profits have increased, enabling 4n overall wage boost of eight Percent last year (including bonuses) , though this five year Plan called for an annual wage Mcrease of only 3.7 percent. _ Agriculture has been advanc- Ig steadily, and the gap in liv- Ng standards between city and Countryside is narrowing. A flow Of new tractors, combines and Other machines from factory to farm has led to a sharp growth Of labor productivity on the farms,

All this is encouraging, but Many stubborn problems are not yet fully solved. Several minis- tries are organizations respon-

' Sible for guiding the transfer of

Enterprises to the new system, ut are not coping with this task.

The theoretical journal, Kom- Munist (No. 11, 1968), notes:

“The success of the economic Teform depends to a consider- able extent on the rate of labor Productivity growth. Stepping UP technological progress is the €cisive factor in this field. OWever, improvement in eco- homic indicators at many enter- Prises operating on new lines Was attained so far at the ex- Pense of reducing the carry-over f uncompleted production and finished goods, at the expense of Selling surplus material values and equipment, that is, at the €Xpense of utilizing the reserves that will be exhausted within a Very short time. Meanwhile, such an important factor for raising the productivity of labor and the €fficiency of production as the Ntroduction of new equipment and the latest production pro- Cesses, the all-round mechaniza- tion and automation and the spe- Cialization and cooperation of

ry to say that some ministries show an incorrect attitude to the fulfilment of plans for the introduction of the accomplish- ments of science and technolo- gy. Ministries concentrate their attention, as a rule, on the pro- duction program. It is quite ob- vious that the operation of a ministry cannot be appraised as normal if it deals only with current production assignments and does not take due measures for carrying out the plans for the introduction of scientific and technological achievements.”

Some plants which try to keep in step with technological pro- gress find themselves worse off financially than others which jog along the old way. One ex- ample:

“The enterprises of the elec- tro-technical industry which started putting out cable goods

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in corrugated steel shells in- stead of lead have been saving extremely scarce raw materials and have considerably cut the cost price of goods. However, due tothe fact that the existing prices did not take into account the real cost of production, these enterprises have been making smaller profits. The develop- ment that is profitable to the na- tional economy on the whole, proved to be unprofitable to the enterprises concerned.”

The 23rd CPSU Congress stressed the need for proper dis- tribution of plants in the most suitable areas. Industrial and agricultural production is ex- panding greatly to the east of the Urals, Positive results have already been registered—‘‘West Siberian oil and gas, the Kras- noyarsk and Bratsk Hydropower plants, Yakut diamonds and Uz- bek gold add to our country’s wealth and serve the cause of communist construction.”

But the theoretical journal adds that some ministries ap- proach the question of locating new plants from a narrow de- partmental point of view. It stresses that “the party commit- tees of ministries must come out more resolutely against all at- tempts at exercising petty ward- ship over enterprises and against the tendency of some executives to examine one or another branch in isolation, without con- sidering the overall development of economic areas.”

Some executives find it hard to rid themselves of “force of habit and fear of the unknown.” Consequently, the training and retraining of personnel becomes vital. It is not just an economic necessity:

“The Central Committee of our party regards the reform not only as an important eco- nomic and nationwide process, but also as an important stride in the development of our socie- ty and socialist democracy and in the education of Soviet peo- ple.”

The Soviet people, in the re- maining two and a half years of the five-year plan, will strive to. expand the reform, increase productivity. and continue to build up the material and tech- nical foundation of communism.

This cardboard plant is part of the Bratsk timber industry com- plex, one of the country's newest and largest wood processing enter-

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The thermal section of the new pipe-drawing shop of the Dniepropetrovsk Lenin pipe-rolling plant is a major part of this young shop. Their products are shipped to construction sites both in the Soviet Union and abroad to 20 countries.

Take stand against sse-aaiitia

Public figures in over 40 countries including Canada have appended their signatures to a statement submitted by the World Council of Peace on the danger of neo-nazism in West Germany, The statement is as follows:

“The development of neo-nazism in the German Federal Republic is being noted with growing concern by world public opinion. The rapid growth of a movement that has openly and shamelessly taken its example from Hitlerite fascism is a logi- cal result of developments over the past twenty years. The de- militarization, denazification and democratisation required by the Potsdam Agreement were not carried out in West Ger- many, where the anti-democratic forces were able to survive and later to consolidate their position in decisive spheres of public life. Now neo-nazi influence is constantly becoming stronger.

“Some West German government representatives disso- ciate themselves from the aims of the neo-nazi National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD). Others attempt to play them down. Nevertheless, the dominating features of the Fede- ral government’s home and foreign policy virtually encourage the aims of this party. This is shown in domestic affairs by the government’s efforts to create a rigidly structuralized society, by its persecution and banning of democratic organi- zations. and, in particular, by its attempts to push through the notorious emergency laws. In foreign policy, the official . demand for a revision of the status quo in Europe, the govern- ment’s unwillingness to recognize existing frontiers, particu- larly that of the Oder-Neisse, its claim to represent all Ger- mans, its failure to recognize the other German state, the a and its craving for nuclear weapons, speak for them- selves.

“The growth.of the neo-nazi movement in Western Ger- many, the penetration of the NPD into provincial parliaments, the prospect that its representatives will enter the Bundestag in 1969, and particularly, the support this movement receives from reactionary circles with a determining influence in the economic and political affairs of the Federal Republic present an increasing danger to peace.

“We urge all people who value peace to take a stand against these trends which obstruct a lasting detente in international affairs. The democratic forces opposing neo-nazism in West Germany deserve our full support. In view of developments there, all efforts serving the cause of security and peace in Europe must be actively pursued.”

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—OCTOBER 4, 1968—Page 9