A Mission for Ivan Silayev
Ivan Silayev, Russian Federation prime minister, was named head of a committee that will decide how the Soviet economy should be run and name a new Cabinet of Ministers. Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev has asked the national Parliament to debate a no-confidence motion in the government of former Soviet Prime Minister Valentin S. Pavlov, arrested for being a coup plotter.
A SILAYEV PROFILE: Born in 1930; joined the Communist Party in 1959 after studying aeronautics. Named deputy Soviet minister in aeronautics industry in 1974, then became machine tool industry minister (1980-81) and aeronautics minister (1981-84). Named deputy chairman of the Soviet Council of Ministers in 1985.
In 1986, he headed a government inquiry on the Chernobyl nuclear-plant disaster. Named Soviet deputy prime minister in July, 1989; became Russian prime minister last June. He is a firm believer in market economics.
He headed a delegation with Russian Vice President Alexander Rutskoy to bring Gorbachev back from the Crimea after coup failed.
THE COMMITTEE: Its job is to “organize, along with the republics, the operation of the country’s economy.” Gorbachev gave the committee two days to name “responsible officials for running concrete areas of work.” With Silayev on the committee are:
* Grigory Yavlinsky: Adviser to Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin; author of proposals for economic reform that have been watered down or abandoned. His appearance on the committee suggests that Gorbachev is ready to endorse radical economic changes.
* Yuri Luzhkov: Moscow deputy mayor, part of the city’s liberal government.
* Arkady Volsky: Head of the influential Scientific and Industrial Union. Longtime Gorbachev associate and considered a centrist.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
