Soviet Union: Economy of the Soviet Union

A file of correspondence and reports concerning the Soviet economy. The documents cover a meeting of the Supreme Soviet on economic affairs concerning the five-year plan for 1981–1985; the economic plan for 1982; and discussions on the fulfilment of the economic plan for 1980. Other documents in the file include details of the speeches of the Soviet leader, Leonid Brezhnev, and the minister of defence, Dmitrii Ustinov, on the Soviet economy, covering food supplies, the production of consumer goods, the development of the fuel and energy sectors, the need to improve economic efficiency, and demographic issues affecting the labour market. The file also covers a lecture on the Soviet economy delivered at the U.S. embassy in Moscow; a despatch examining the Soviet Union's current economic difficulties, focussing on the shortcomings of the agricultural and energy sectors; and a report on the economic situation and availability of essential food supplies in the Soviet city of Voronezh.