GOSPLAN, short for Gosudarstvennyy Komitet po Planirovaniyu (Государственный комитет по планированию) in Russian, translates to "State Planning Committee" in English. It refers to the central economic planning agency that existed in the Soviet Union from 1921 to 1991.
GOSPLAN was responsible for formulating and overseeing the economic plans of the Soviet Union at various levels, including the republic, regional, and local levels. Its primary objective was to create and execute a comprehensive economic plan that would drive the development of the Soviet economy, aimed at achieving state-dictated targets for production, investment, and consumption.
Under the Soviet command economy, GOSPLAN played a commanding role in directing and coordinating economic sectors by setting output targets, allocating resources, and effectively controlling the allocation of labor. It accomplished this through detailed long-term plans and periodic adjustments based on economic realities and changing priorities.
The agency served as a central hub for economic decision-making, working in conjunction with various ministries and departments to generate plans that would guide the development of agriculture, industry, construction, and other sectors. GOSPLAN's activities ranged from forecasting future needs, coordinating production and investment decisions, to ensuring the rational distribution of resources and labor.
The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to the abolition of GOSPLAN as a central planning authority, marking the end of its prominent role in the Soviet economy. However, the organizational structure and mechanisms established by GOSPLAN, along with its impacts on the Soviet economy and society, continued to be subjects of study and analysis in the field of economic and social history.
