1979 Soviet economic reform

The 1979 Soviet economic reform, or "Improving planning and reinforcing the effects of the economic mechanism on raising the effectiveness in production and improving the quality of work", was an economic reform initiated by Alexei Kosygin, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers. During Leonid Brezhnev's rule of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) the Soviet economy began to stagnate; this period is referred to by historians as the Era of Stagnation. Even after several reform attempts by Kosygin and his protégés, the economic situation in the country continued to deteriorate. In contrast to his earlier reform initiative, the 26th Congress that his government would implement the reform during the (1981–1985). This never happened, and even Brezhnev complained that implementation of the reform had been slow. This unfinished reform is seen by some as the last major pre-perestroika reform initiative put forward by the Soviet government.

The reform was initiated, and created, by Premier Alexei Kosygin in a joint decision with the Central Committee (CC) and the Council of Ministers. The reform tried to reaffirm and separate the economic functions of the state and the ministries. To accomplish this, several procedures were established to ensure that each ministry would contribute to the state budget. All ministries were given a fixed budget even if the ministry did not fulfill the five-year plan. The reform supported giving enterprises more autonomy from the central government and extending the rights of the ministries by giving them new principles. The reform tried to improve labor productivity by introducing new production indicators via the State Standards Committee, and tried to solve some of the USSR's economic problems by reducing the effects of sectorial barriers set up by the ministries. The reform succeeded in giving more power to the regional authorities and the Soviet Republics; this development was consolidated by a Central Committee decree in 1981.

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