Nikolai Talyzin

Nikolai Vladimirovich Talyzin (Russian: Никола́й Влади́мирович Талы́зин) (28 January 1929 – 23 January 1991) was a Soviet statesman, economist and head of the Gosplan, or the State Planning Committee.[1]

Nikolai Talyzin Никола́й Талы́зин
First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers
In office 1 November 1985 – 7 June 1989
Premier	Nikolai Ryzhkov
Preceded by	Andrei Gromyko
Succeeded by	Vsevolod Murakhovski
Chairman of State Planning Committee
In office 1985–1988
Premier	Nikolai Ryzhkov
Preceded by	Nikolai Baibakov
Succeeded by	Yuri Maslyukov
Minister of Communications
In office 3 September 1975 – 24 October 1980
Premier	Alexei Kosygin
Preceded by	Nikolai Psurtsev
Succeeded by	Vasily Shamshin
Candidate member of the 26th, 27th Politburo
In office 15 October 1985 – 20 September 1989
Full member of the 26th, 27th Central Committee
In office 3 March 1981 – 14 July 1990
Personal details
Born	28 January 1929 Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Died	23 January 1991 (aged 61) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Political party	Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1960–1990)

Talyzin was Chosen by Mikhail Gorbachev in October 1985 to help start the program of economic change known as perestroika, after serving five years as the Soviet representative at Comecon, the Eastern European trade bloc. He was appointed head of the State Planning Commission, or Gosplan, when almost every sector of the Soviet economy was still firmly under state control. He became one of the three First Deputy Premiers at this time, as well as a non-voting member of the Communist Party Politburo.

The planning commission's task shifted from setting production targets to mapping out economic strategy, as Gorbachev pushed his economic reforms. Talyzin came under strong criticism, and moved to the post of head of the Bureau for Social Development in 1988,[2] blamed for slowing reforms. In September 1989, with perestroika failing to produce the promised results, he was dismissed, along with many other conservatives in Nikolai Ryzhkov's government, whom he blamed for slowing the pace of reforms.

Awards and decorations

• Order of Lenin
• Order of the October Revolution
• Order of the Red Banner of Labour
• Order of the Red Star
• Laureate of the State Prize of the USSR, twice (1968, 1974)

References

1. "Nikolai Talyzin, 62; Assisted Gorbachev in Starting Reforms". The New York Times. Reuters. 26 January 1991. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
2. "Soviet Shifts Planning Chief After Criticism by Gorbachev". The New York Times. Reuters. 7 February 1988. Retrieved 11 May 2017.