Kremlin Seeks to Cut Soviet Bureaucracy

In the most far-reaching attempt yet to streamline the top-heavy Soviet bureaucracy, Premier Nikolai I. Ryzhkov on Saturday proposed elimination of one-third of the government ministries and said the rest should relinquish power to the nation’s 15 republics.

The shared-rule proposal is a clear attack on the party apparatchiks whom President Mikhail S. Gorbachev has blamed for slowing down, or even blocking, his efforts to reform and streamline the Soviet economy.

It also is aimed at easing growing tension in many of the republics, where ethnic leaders have complained about the extent of control Moscow exerts on their daily affairs and have demanded economic independence.

Ryzhkov made his comments to the new lawmaking Supreme Soviet, composed of 542 representatives from the 2,250-member Congress of People’s Deputies. The new legislature replaces the previous rubber-stamp body and is a cornerstone in Gorbachev’s efforts to restructure the government by making it more accountable to the people.

Ryzhkov said the 50 government ministries currently handling branches of the economy should be cut to 32. The remaining ministries, he said, should hand over a number of decisions to the republics themselves.

In a further sign of what appeared to be Ryzhkov’s commitment to economic reform, he nominated a leading progressive economist, Leonid I. Abalkin, as deputy premier.

In a move designed to bring younger leaders into the Soviet Cabinet, called the Council of Ministers, Ryzhkov said he is nominating only 10 of the 100 present members of the Cabinet to serve again.

The Ryzhkov proposals were hailed by the official Tass news agency as “a new concept of national economic management.” The Supreme Soviet is to vote on them later this month.

“In the course of our economic reform, we have begun reorganizing our management system to get rid of everything that is inefficient and stands in the way of the free development of productivity,” Ryzhkov told the Supreme Soviet.

“But we now need more radical changes in the structure, functions, style and methods of the government,” he said.

Bureaucratic Red Tape

Ryzhkov’s proposals are aimed at cutting bureaucratic red tape, which has been blamed for making production and distribution of consumer goods cumbersome.

They also serve a second purpose: they are an attempt to appease leaders in the Baltic and other republics that have complained of interference from Moscow.

Gorbachev clearly intends to give republic leaders a chance to see what they can do to reform the economy at the regional level.

Gorbachev told the Congress of People’s Deputies last week that he knows the lack of consumer goods--even basic necessities such as soap and matches--is among the biggest problems he faces.

He has sought to redefine socialism by loosening state control on the means of production and encouraging entrepreneurship.

Public Confidence Shaken

But the failure of his government to get consumer goods on store shelves has shaken public confidence in perestroika , his program of restructuring. It also has endangered the program itself, because workers are unwilling to put in more hours or work harder in return for more money if there is little available to buy.

Earlier this year, in a cut of bureaucracy on a smaller scale, Gorbachev disbanded Gosagroprom, an unwieldy agriculture mega-ministry he himself had created but later decided was simply slowing down distribution of farm products.

Also during Saturday’s Supreme Soviet session, popular rebel politician Boris N. Yeltsin took the podium to express support for Andrei D. Sakharov, who was shouted down by conservatives in the final minutes of the Congress of People’s Deputies on Friday night.

Yeltsin said he agreed with Sakharov that the congress had failed to solve some key issues. He also expressed doubt that Ryzhkov’s proposals would dramatically improve the Soviet economy.

“I am not convinced that in two years we will have improved the financial and economic situation,” said Yeltsin, who was elected by the Supreme Soviet as chairman of the construction and architecture committee.

PEOPLE POWER Soviet Congess has brought politics to the people. Page 14.