Economy on Target Overall, Soviets Say

The Soviet oil, steel, chemical and building materials industries failed to achieve their production targets in 1985, but the economy as a whole met its goals, the director of the Kremlin’s central planning agency said Tuesday.

Nikolai V. Talyzin, the new head of Gosplan, projected a modest 3.8% increase in economic growth for next year in a report to the Supreme Soviet, the nominal parliament.

The economy, held back by a hard winter in the opening months of the year, is expected to grow by 3.5% in 1985, Talyzin said.

He blamed “bad organization” for the shortfall in the output of oil, steel, chemical and construction materials. Production of fruit and vegetables also lagged, and retail stores in many of the Soviet Union’s 15 republics will fall short of their sales targets, he added.

Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev, who has made a re-invigorated economy one of his major goals, stressed the importance of science and technological progress in spurring growth.

In a speech to the Supreme Soviet, Gorbachev also called for better planning and measures to enhance independence of plant managers and local bodies from government ministries.

Backing for Premier

Meanwhile, the Supreme Soviet ratified Gorbachev’s choice of Nikolai I. Ryzhkov, 56, to be premier in place of Nikolai A. Tikhonov, who was retired for health reasons at age 80 in late September.

In his report, Talyzin said higher productivity will account for an increase in national income--the closest Soviet equivalent to gross national product, the yardstick used by Western countries to measure economic growth.

He projected a rise of 4.3% in industrial output, compared to an expected 3.9% increase in this year.

The 1986 plan, the first in a new five-year cycle, will give priority to the machine tool industry, scientific instruments and computers, Talyzin said, in an effort to modernize the Soviet industrial plant.

“Machine building is decisive,” he said, echoing Gorbachev’s philosophy. Computer production, according to the 1986 plan, will increase by 80%, including a rise in the number of personal computers.

Far Below Target

Talyzin was vague about this year’s grain harvest, estimated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture at 190 million tons, far below the target but above the estimated yield of 170 million tons in the previous year.

He set a goal of 616.7 million tons for oil production in 1986, indicating that this year’s disappointing output fell below the 600-million-ton level.

The Soviet Union is the world’s largest oil producer, but its output has dropped since 1983, and some Western experts believe that more sophisticated equipment may be needed to raise production from fields in Siberia.

Deputy Finance Minister Viktor V. Dementsev said that military spending will hold steady at 19.06 billion rubles (about $23 billion), an amount equal to 4.6% of the total spending of 414.2 billion rubles (about $510 billion).

Western military analysts contend that the announced figure for military outlays is far below the actual total, since many defense-related expenditures are not included.

Talyzin said the 1986 plan envisions construction of 10 million new apartments, an increase of 11% over the 1985 figure.

The average wage for an office worker next year will go up to 185 rubles a month (about $227), and average farm pay will climb to 156 rubles a month (about $192), he reported.