Russia's Restive Consumers

Report Outline
Kremlin's Preoccupation with Consumers
Past Struggles to Raise Production
Direction of Efforts to Meet Demands

Kremlin's Preoccupation with Consumers

Debate Over Economic Goals at Party Congress

The political infighting taking place as the Soviet Communist Party prepares to open its 24th Congress in Moscow on March 30 is thought by experts to center on the question of how much to concede to Russia's restive consumers. That the Party Congress has been delayed a full year indicates Kremlin planners have had great difficulty in laying out the ninth Five Year Plan (1971–75) for the development of the Russian economy. Draft directives of the plan were announced in Moscow on Feb. 14 and are destined to be approved by the Congress. While the stamp of consent is usually automatic, the plan's emphasis on the need to raise living standards and augment the output of consumer goods is bound to put strains on the Soviet leadership—a leadership which often is portrayed as uncertain and divided.

Russia's economic problems, ranging from stagnation to inflation, have attracted far less notice than America's in the past year. This is due, in part, to Soviet reluctance to produce statistics. However, Western observers perceive that the Brezhnev-Kosygin regime has failed to make the economy function more smoothly, as it promised to do. And it has failed to meet many of the goals of the last Five Year Plan. These failures have affected the long-suffering Soviet consumer. He is frustrated by his frequent inability to find such everyday items as gloves, towels and razor blades or even food staples like meat, fish, and fresh fruits and vegetables. Robert Conquest, a Soviet-affairs analyst, speaks of “a great reservoir of discontent among the masses.”

Russians, however, have traditionally shown a far greater tolerance than Poles, Czechs, Hungarians or Yugoslavs for the shortcomings of their leaders. While Russia's economic problems are serious, they are not regarded as acute enough to force an overhaul of the archaic distribution system or a change in the over-centralized and bureaucratic economic direction from Moscow. The Soviet consumer has remained quieter than his Eastern European neighbors despite queues and shortages. He has seen some progress over the past decade. Each year, more Russians move into slightly better quarters, enjoy greater amenities, and receive a slightly improved variety of consumer goods. While these improvements are not dramatic, over a period of years they are noticeable.