CMEA Member Countries Research Articles

Совет экономической взаимопомощи в поисках путей развития сельского хозяйства Монголии: доклад экспертной группы от 12 сентября 1963 г.

Introduction. By the time Mongolia joined the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, it was a remarkably agriculture-oriented economy, which made it logical that Mongolian representatives would raise the problems of their national agriculture at meetings and sessions of the Council’s bodies. Goals. The study aims to investigate some specific decisions that facilitated the compilation of the CMEA expert group report dated 12 September 1963, and attempts an analysis of its key provisions. Materials and methods. The paper focuses on archival materials contained in Collections 561 (‘CMEA Secretariat’) and 302 (‘Permanent Mission of the USSR to the CMEA’) of the Russian State Archive of the Economy, as well as files from Collection 10 (‘International Conferences and Meetings’) of the Russian State Archive of Contemporary History. The main research methods employed are the historical-descriptive and historical-genetic ones. Results. The report was prepared by a group of agricultural experts representing CMEA member countries which worked in Mongolia from 13 August to 12 September 1963. The experts’ departure was a consequence of a change in the initial procedure for developing proposals aimed at improving Mongolia’s agricultural production. Conclusions. The CMEA expert group report of 12 September 1963 had a complicated and ornate background be traced back to the 16th Session of the CMEA which admitted Mongolia to the organization. Structurally, it consists of 7 same-type sections describing various areas of assistance to Mongolia’s agriculture. In the course of the works, the expert group reviewed the list and scope of positions for the proposed assistance, and at the same time — most importantly — expert support was provided to meet the requests of Mongolia’s representatives, while the latter were still to defend the implementation of the measures recorded in the Report in the course of coordinating the national economic plans of the CMEA member countries.

СОВЕТ ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКОЙ ВЗАИМОПОМОЩИ И ГЕОЛОГИЧЕСКОЕ ИЗУЧЕНИЕ МОНГОЛИИ: ДОКЛАД ЭКСПЕРТНОЙ ГРУППЫ СТРАН–ЧЛЕНОВ СЭВ ОТ 9 СЕНТЯБРЯ 1963 Г.

The article deals with the issue of geological study of the MPR territory undertaken by the expert group of the CMEA member countries in August-September 1963. Despite the relevance of the topic due to the current state of the economy of Mongolia, as well as the importance of the work of the expert group for subsequent geological studies of the country, the subject is only briefly mentioned in the existing historiography. Therefore, there is no information about the group formation process, the progress of its work, as well as the content of the report compiled. The study of these issues is the purpose of the article. Based on the materials of the RSAE and the RSACH, it was established that the Mongolian side began lobbying for the start of a geological study of the country’s territory through the CMEA even before joining the organization. In response to the subsequent statements of the Mongolian representatives in the CMEA, the Executive Committee of the Council initiated the sending of an expert group to Mongolia to prepare proposals on the issue; and those proposals were consequently reflected in the report of September 9, 1963. The experts called for curtailing further exploration work on the already discovered oil, iron, manganese, chromium and polymetallic ores. It was recommended to hold off on an active development of oil shale, germanium, graphite and magnesite deposits. On the other hand, the experts advocated the carrying out of a wide range of surveys, as well as undertaking exploratory measures pertaining to the development of coal, copper, gold, tin, tungsten, fluorspar, piezoquartz, building materials, phosphates and mineral salts.

Первый опыт двусторонних консультаций для Госплана Монголии в рамках Совета экономической взаимопомощи (сентябрь–октябрь 1963 г.)

Introduction. Since Mongolia joined the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance it became obliged to coordinate its planning activities with other member countries. And the planning coordination process proper essentially included arrangements of bilateral consultations between Mongolia’s planning agency and those of corresponding member countries. Goals. So, the study aims at examining earliest bilateral consultations held by Mongolia’s Planning Commission in September–October of 1963. Materials and methods. The article analyzes documents from the Russian State Archive of Contemporary History and the Russian State Archive of the Economy. The key research methods employed are the comparative historical and typological ones. Results. The mentioned bilateral consultations were discussing two groups of questions, namely: a list of enterprises the Mongolian party was going to construct with the aid of other CMEA member countries, and lists of goods to be exchanged between the involved countries through the balance method. Conclusions. The bilateral consultations between the MPR’s Planning Commission and planning agencies of CMEA member governments held in September–October of 1963 proved an absolutely new line of activity for Mongolian economists. The former’s key points were discussions over lists of construction and other facilities required by the Mongolian party. And the almost full absence of data pertaining to construction funding sources implies the negotiation process — at that very stage — was far from being complete. It was the Soviet Union that was still expected to invest most in Mongolia’s economy and bear the bulk of responsibility for the to be constructed enterprises. The ‘greediest’ government engaged in discussions over economic aid to Mongolia was that of Romania, other CMEA member countries to have clustered into a group of so called ‘averages’. The latter did not differ much in scales of to be rendered aid, while essentials of their sector-specific investments did vary to some extent.

Council for Environmental Mutual Aid: Environmental Protection and CMEA Issues

The article deals with the initiatives of the CMEA member states in the field of environmental protection. The holding of the UN conference on the environment in Stockholm in 1972 actualized the environmental agenda both in the world and within the socialist camp. In parallel with the preparations for the UN conference in 1972, the journal “Problems of Peace and Socialism” held an international symposium “Marxism-Leninism and the Problems of Environmental Conservation”. This event was designed to develop a common point of view for communist parties on environmental protection. In 1976, an international meeting on environmental protection was held at the CMEA Secretariat. The meeting was organized by the Institute of Economics of the World Socialist System of the USSR Academy of Sciences and the Committee on Scientific and Technical Cooperation of CMEA. The main issues of the meeting were related to the state policy on environmental protection and use of natural resources in the CMEA member countries. Thus it can be stated that in the CMEA countries, as well as all over the world, since the 1970s the attention to environmental issues began to grow. At the same time, environmental rhetoric was often in conflict with the current objectives of the economies of the CMEA countries. Although the official discourse was dominated by the idea of aspirations for the future, the leaders preferred to solve the problems of the current moment.

COMECON and Socialist Ethiopia: a New Stage of Trade and Economic Relations in the 1970s

Recently, interest in the African continent has increased again. Africa, with its rapidly growing population, is a promising market for Russia and other countries of the world. For favorable interaction with African countries, it is necessary to take into account the experience of the past years. The article deals with the period of the 70s of the 20th century. At that time, the economies of the CMEA member countries were growing. The socialist countries were actively looking for new allies and expanding their political and economic presence in the newly independent African contingent. At the same time, fundamental changes in the political structure of the state took place in Ethiopia, which made it possible to increase the volume of cooperation between the CMEA member countries and this African state.

Trade and Economic Interaction between the CMEA Member Countries and African Developing Countries in the 1960s and 1970s

The article is devoted to the main aspects of the initial period of trade and economic interaction of the CMEA member countries with developing countries, primarily in Africa. It is based on new evidences from the Russian State Archive of Economics.The article is a case-study of the working material of the meeting of the heads of foreign trade organizations on the issues of CMEA technical assistance to developing countries held in April 1971. The article covers such issues as the new forms of cooperation, namely, mixed commissions on economic, scientific and technical cooperation between the CMEA member countries and developing countries; development of intergovernmental agreements on economic, scientific and technical cooperation with developing countries; creation of mixed enterprises; development of economic and technical ties with developing countries through the creation of engineering consulting offices.

THE PRACTICE OF COORDINATION OF INDUSTRIAL POLICY OF MEMBER COUNTRIES OF THE CMEA (INSTITUTIONAL ASPECTS)

The article deals with the phenomenon of industrial policy coordination by the example of CMEA. The analysis of historical experience of coordination of industrial policy of the CMEA member countries allowed to determine the essence of this phenomenon, which is expressed in voluntary interstate coordination of cooperation of the member countries of the integration association in the field of industrial policy aimed at making full use of the advantages of international division and cooperation of labor, in order to reduce uncertainty in the system of international cooperation. It is revealed that the institute of coordination of industrial policy of the CMEA member countries has become an effective way to expand industrial cooperation of their business entities and the mechanism of their interstate interaction.

Co-operation among CMEA member countries in maritime transport

This paper highlights some of the major activities in developing an appropriate framework and modalities of co-operation among CMEA member countries in maritime transport. These include the working out of various basic documents determining objectives, directions and methods of co-operation. Particular attention is devoted to the Comprehensive Programme for the Further Extension and Improvement of Co-operation and the Development of Socialist Economic Integration of the CMEA Member Countries and to the first inter-governmental Agreement on Co-operation in Merchant Shipping. Relevant activities of the CMEA are described, in particular, in the fields of joint planning and chartering, as well as its mechanisms for developing and promoting co-operation.

Methods of Background Environmental Pollution Monitoring Applied in CMEA Member Countries

Abstract Presented are some methods of environmental objects sampling and procedures for determination of sulfur dioxide, sulfate, ozone, nitrogen oxides, mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic, DDT and other organochlorine pesticides such as 3,4-benzo(a)-pyrene and other PAHs at background levels in environmental media used at CMEA member countries' background stations. The program and methodology of the quality assurance of the information on pollutants' content in environmental media received when different procedures and devices are applied, are envisaged in the paper.

Integrated background monitoring in the USSR

The whole biosphere of the Earth is faced with an increasing anthropogenic pressure. Mankind uses natural resources for its physical and spiritual demands so widely that undesirable effects appear not only in separate regions but embrace the whole biosphere as well. As a rule, such processes develop slowly. They have an irreversible character and to avoid them, preventive decisions are needed. For that purpose, comprehensive and systematic information on the state of the biosphere is needed.The integrated background monitoring system has been implemented and is in operation in the USSR. Structurally, the integrated background monitoring system is divided into three groups: background stations on land; background stations on fresh water; and background stations on inland and periphery seas.All of the data received from these stations are analyzed and correlated at the Natural Environment and Climate Monitoring Laboratory of the USSR State Committee for Hydrometeorology and Control of the Natural Environment, the USSR Academy of Sciences, and in other scientific institutes of the State Committee. The information serves for the assessment of the state of the environment, prediction of anthropogenic effects, and for evaluation of the measures taken to prevent pollution of the biosphere at national and international levels.The information is shared in a wide international exchange within the framework of several international organizations (UNEP, WMO, UNESCO, ECE, CMEA, and others) and of the bilateral agreements on cooperation in the field of environmental protection (USA, France, Sweden, FRG, CMEA Member Countries).

Foreign exchange regulations in the socialist countries

The foreign exchange regulations of CMEA member countries exam ined in this paper1 flow from the state monopoly on foreign exchange, i.e., the state's right to concentrate in its hands all sources of foreign exchange and to decide how to allocate them most usefully, as well as to carry out international payment and credit dealings, including trade in foreign currencies. The foreign exchange monopoly and its function are reflected in the foreign exchange laws of the socialist countries, which lay down the rights and duties of state authorities, economic organizations, and citizens, and which also define the obligations of foreign persons when dealing with foreign exchange. The foreign exchange regulations of the socialist countries differ in various particulars. These differences stem from the historical condi tions in which the laws originated and developed, from the importance of external economic relations for national income formation, from the diversity of bodies empowered by the socialist state to operate the monopoly, and from the period in which any given regulation was issued. Differences exist in the actual concepts of foreign exchange law, in handling foreign funds, in relief from obligations granted to foreign nationals, in the exporting and importing of foreign currency funds, in operating foreign exchange controls, etc. As the international socialist division of labor among CMEA mem bers continues and deepens, and with growth in the number of joint ventures established by two or more enterprises from two or more member countries, we can expect to feel the need to bring the basic provisions of foreign exchange law more into line with each other.

The Concept of Development of Flexible Automation in Czechoslovakia

In early seventies, research and development of flexible manufacturing systems have been started in the Czechoslovak mechanical engineering industry, based on the positive results and findings acquired in the construction of the first systems for machining and metal forming, the path of a systematic and concentrated solution of the long-term development of an engineering enterprise and of the preparation of the establishment of a model plant and, later on, of a model enterprise was embarked upon ten years ago. An important role is being played in this area by the Research Institute of Engineering Technology and Economics (VUSTE), Prague, which elaborates and co-ordinates significant projects of the state technical policy in the field of flexible automation. Theoretical approaches are being gradually verified in practical life with 40 automated manufacturing systems in operation. The paper discusses findings accumulated in the elaboration and construction of selected automated flexible manufacturing systems designed by our Institute. Attention is also paid to the co-operation with the CMEA member countries in this field.

AN ATLAS OF CMEA MEMBER NATIONS

General problems of complex atlas mapping—selection of scales and indices for mapping, standardization of legends, establishment of appropriate levels of generalization, etc.—are addressed using the first comprehensive economic atlas of CMEA member countries as an example. The Atlas itself contains general overview maps of economic linkages of CMEA member nationa with the world economy, maps devoted to economic transactions and patterns within the CMEA as a whole, and general economic maps of the individual member nations. Translated from: Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta, geografiya, 1985, No. 4, pp. 3-6.

The Transferable Ruble: The Currency of the Socialist Community

Thirty-sixth Session of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance approved the program for coordinating the national economic plans of countries in the socialist community in 1986-90, which must promote the implementation of the policy of communist and workers' parties of intensifying production in the interest of improvement in the well-being of peoples in the fraternal countries. As noted in the Communique on the Thirty-sixth Session of the CMEA, The program calls for increased emphasis on the multilateral approach to the resolution of the principal tasks of cooperation, for the expansion of coordination of capital investments in areas and projects in the Coordinated Plan.1Such coordination becomes more and more important in connection with the large scale of economic projects that are part of the special long-range cooperative programs (SLRCP) of CMEA member countries.

Organisation for co-operation and dissemination of scientific and technical information among CMEA member countries ( with particular respect to information systems in Poland)

Les systemes d'information des pays du COMECON sont pour la plupart centralises. La tendance est a l'unification entre ces systemes tres divers. Des graphiques representent les processus. L'organisation de l'information en Pologne est decrite plus en detail

Regional cooperation of the CMEA countries in the Patent Information field

This paper continues the previous publications in World Patent Information on cooperation among the CMEA member countries in the patent information field 1,2. Since the first publication more than three years have passed. All the subsystems of the International Patent Information System (IPIS) of CMEA countries entered operational phase. Some structural changes of IPIS were made, in particular, the ASBA service was expanded into the Subsystem of Processing and Retrieving Patent Information. The present paper gives a more complete description of the IPIS as a whole and the first results of its implementation.

Problems of Trade Settled in Convertible Currencies among CMEA Member Countries

Problems of Trade Settled in Convertible Currencies among CMEA Member Countries

Cooperation among the CMEA member countries in the field of patent information

Cooperation among the CMEA member countries in the field of patent information

Socialist Countries in GATT

The present stage in East-West economic cooperation has reached the point at which four socialist countries have become members of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and were thus admitted to the world trade system on the basis of non-discrimination and the most-favored-nation clause. Of those, Poland, Romania and Hungary are also members of the Council for Mutual Economic Aid (CMEA, Comecon) while Yugoslavia-not a formal member-is extensively engaged in the socialist system of economic cooperation. Trade between socialist and free economy countries has a long history, and foreign trade experts are quite familiar with socialist foreign trade techniques.1 Free world exporters and importers in a number of countries represent today an impressive business milieu professionally engaged in East-West economic cooperation. It is also true however that East-West trade operations are, compared with world trade volume, relatively insignificant. Even today, the foreign trade policy of the socialist countries seems to be directed at preventing their full integration into the world economic system. The main reason seems to be that the function of foreign trade is primarily to obtain financing for transforming the national economies of these countries into industrial societies, according to programs fixed in their long term economic plans.2 While this remains true today, it is also true that joining GATT was connected with an important change of mind as regards the function of foreign trade in socialist economies. The Communique on the 25th session of the CMEA (6 July 1971) stated that: The session declared that any country that is not a Comecon member can fully or partially participate in the implementation of the measures envisaged by the comprehensive program. The CMEA member countries will continue to develop economic, scientific and technical ties with

Fourth symposium of CMEA member-countries on the treatment of irradiated fuel

The symposium on the treatment of irradiated fuel was held at Karlovy Vary in Czechoslovakia -the country responsible within the KNTS for organizing research on the treatment of atomic-power-station fuel elements -from Mar. 28 to Apr. I, 1977, and was attended by 136 specialists from CMEA member-countries as well as specialists from the Socialist Federated Republic of Yugoslavia and representatives of the CMEA secretariat and the IAEA. At the plenary and sectional meetings of the analytic, technological, and physicochemical sections, 85 papers were presented.