Ivan Silayev
Encyclopedia
Ivan Stepanovich Silayev ' onMouseout='HidePop("14282")' href="/topics/Nizhny_Novgorod_Oblast">Nizhny Novgorod Oblast
, Russian SFSR
, Soviet Union
) is a former Soviet
official who became a Russia
n politician following the dissolution of the Soviet Union
. He served as Premier of the Soviet Union
through the offices of Chairman of the Interstate Economic Committee and Chairman of the Committee on the Operational Management of the Soviet economy from 6 September to 26 December 1991. Responsible for overseeing the economy of the Soviet Union during the late Gorbachev Era, he was the last Premier of the Soviet Union.
After graduating in the 1950s, Silayev began his political career in the Ministry of Aviation Industry
in the 1970s. During the Brezhnev Era
he became Minister of Aviation Industry, a Central Committee
member, and Minister of Machine-Tool and Tool Building Industry. When Nikolai Tikhonov
's Second Government
was dissolved, Mikhail Gorbachev
appointed him Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers in Nikolai Ryzhkov
's First Government. He left all posts in the central government
in 1990 to focus in his post as Chairman of the Council of Ministers – Government
of the Russian SFSR
. He faced several cabinet difficulties during his tenure, and supported the majority of Boris Yeltsin
's policies. Having opposed Yeltsin's secessionist policies during his tenure as Soviet Premier, he was removed from his post as Russian SFSR Premier and succeeded in his post by acting Premier Oleg Lobov
.
When he became Premier of the Soviet Union on 6 September 1991, Silayev opposed some of Yeltsin's policies which led to the disintegration of the Soviet Union. After Silayev resigned as Soviet Premier, he continued to work for the Yeltsin administration as the Permanent Representative of Russia to the European Community until his resignation in 1994. During the 2007 legislative election
Silayev ran as a candidate for the Agrarian Party of Russia.
, Russian SFSR
, Soviet Union
, and graduated from the Kazan Aviation Institute in 1954 as a mechanical engineer. In 1959 Silayev became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
(CPSU). During his tenure at the Gorky Aviation Plant (Gorky is now Nizhny Novgorod
), where he started in 1954, he advanced from the lowest level to become the plant's foreman from 1971 to 1974. Silayev then served as Deputy Minister of Aviation Industry, and was later appointed Minister of Aviation Industry
in 1981 in Nikolai Tikhonov
's first government
. He served briefly as Minister of Machine-Tool and Tool Building Industry of the Soviet Union from 1980 to 1981. At the 26th Congress Silayev was elected a member of the Central Committee
(CPSU). In 1985, during Mikhail Gorbachev
's rule, Silayev was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Chairman of the Machine-Building Bureau of the Council of Ministers in Nikolai Ryzhkov
's first and second government. He served in these posts until he was appointed Premier of the Russian SFSR in 1990.
of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
(RSFSR), literally Premier of the Russian SFSR, was not considered a very important event; the Premier was elected following the election of the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR, the Supreme Soviet's deputy chairman, and after a debate on Russian agriculture. Boris Yeltsin
, the Chairman of the Russian SFSR Supreme Soviet, was ordered to select candidates for the post of Premier to the Supreme Soviet. Mikhail Bocharov, a successful businessman and leader of the cooperative movement, rector of the Moscow Aviation Institute
Yuri Ryzhkov, and Silayev were chosen as the candidates. Ryzhkov withdrew his candidacy before the first round of voting was finished. During the election Bocharov revealed his radical economic reform plan to the Supreme Soviet deputies; in it industry would be privatised, and subsidies to unprofitable enterprises would cease in a 100 Days reform package. Silayev did not have any similar economic reform plans, but was widely considered to be Yeltsin's favourite for the post.
In the first round of voting Silayev earned 119 votes, while Bocharov earned 86 votes. To be elected to the post, a candidate needed to win over half of the vote; neither Silayev or Bocharov succeeded in this. Seeing that Silayev was Yeltsin's favourite, and had won more votes than Bocharov, Silayev ran unchallenged in the second election round, and was thus elected by a large margin.
Gorbachev tried to break the Silayev–Yeltsin alliance but to no avail. In 1989, Valentin Pavlov
, the Prime Minister of the Soviet Union
from 14 January to 22 August 1991, had gathered together enough information on the errors and omissions of Silayev to weaken his position as Deputy Premier. Silayev never forgave Pavlov and relations between the two grew colder when Pavlov became the Prime Minister.
system of electing cabinet members by electing members using an "objective" and "scientific" basis. To accomplish this, Silayev asked professional psychologists to interview candidate cabinet members. Only 14 of the 200 cabinet candidates were recommended for a post in the government cabinet; even so, several of the candidates were given a post in the new government. All candidate members were selected by either Silayev, Yeltsin, or the Supreme Soviet.
Silayev's government lacked ideological unity, and several conservative members were elected to the cabinet in July 1990, among them Oleg Lobov
and Gennadii Kulik. In November 1990 Grigory Yavlinsky resigned from his cabinet post, citing the failure of the 500 Days Programme. However, some commentators believe Yavlinsky resigned because of frequent conflict between him and other cabinet members. RSFSR Minister of Finance
Boris Fyodorov resigned on 5 December 1990, and accused the First Deputy Premiers of taking important financial decisions on behalf of the ministry and him as minister behind his back. Lobov, the First Deputy Premier in charge of regional development, had become a de facto leader of the cabinet. Lobov was Yeltsin's favourite, and tried to weaken Silayev's position within the cabinet. With the consent of the Supreme Soviet Silayev established a 16-member Presidium for the cabinet.
Another problem facing Silayev was that the Supreme Soviet was usurping the power of the executive branch by strengthening the legislative branch. To accomplish this the Supreme Soviet established duplicated entities, such as the Committee for Mass Media, which duplicated the functions of the Ministry of Mass Media. Viktor Kisin, the Minister of Industry, told the press that the only employee of his ministry was in fact himself. In July 1990 Silayev agreed to create parallel executive-legislative administrative bodies.
In December 1990 the Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian SFSR entrusted Silayev and his government to create a new plan for economic reform. The plan was finished in April 1991, and was referred to as the "Yeltsin–Silayev". The plan was heavily influenced by the 500 Days Programme, and supported privatisation and the marketisation of the economy. The reform plan was criticised by an official from the State Committee on Economic Reform of the central government; he called the plan "a statement of intents"; instead of an economic reform, he called it a "manifesto". A Supreme Soviet deputy noted the proposed reform lacked real statistical insight. Even so, the proposed reform received a majority in a Supreme Soviet vote; Yeltsin's supporters knew that his economic reform proposal had to be accepted before the July presidential election
. Following the July presidential election the Russian government resigned, and the post of premier was once again up for election. Silayev had strong competitors for the post, such as Yurii Skokov, but won the election.
failed to arrest Silayev or any other high-standing Russian state officials during the August Coup. Silayev was one of several leading Russian SFSR politicians who flew to Gorbachev's summer house in the immediate aftermath of the failed coup. On 24 August the Russian SFSR Council of Ministers
issued a decree transferring central government authority over economic and communications ministries to the RSFSR Government, and took control of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
and KGB
archives. With the central government's authority greatly weakened, Gorbachev established a four-man committee, led by Silayev, that included Grigory Yavlinsky, Arkadi Volsky, and Yuri Luzhkov, to elect a new Cabinet of Ministers. This committee was later transformed into the Committee on the Operational Management of the Soviet economy (COMSE), also chaired by Silayev, to manage the Soviet economy. COMSE was quickly surpassed in authority by the Interstate Economic Committee (IEC), also officially known as the Economic Community, which was established on 20 September under the name Inter-Republican Economic Committee. Its function was to coordinate economic policy across the Soviet Union. As Chairman of both COMSE and the IEC, Silayev presided over a quickly disintegrating Soviet Union. On 6 September 1991 a presidential decree temporarily gave the IEC the same authority as the Cabinet of Ministers, and Silayev became the Soviet Union's de facto Premier
.
When he first took office, Silayev wanted to reduce the powers of the central government and give more powers to the Soviet Republics
. This view changed; he demanded that Yeltsin give back much of the authority of the central government which he had usurped following the August Coup. In this he failed, and his position as Russian SFSR Premier was severely weakened as a result. Oleg Lobov, Silayev's First Deputy Premier, led the anti-Silayev faction in the Russian SFSR Council of Ministers and managed to oust him on 26 September 1991; Lobov succeeded Silayev as acting Premier of the Russian SFSR. Silayev, as overseer of the economy, was given the task of initiating economic reforms in the Soviet Union in a way that suited both the central government and the Soviet republics. Silayev tried to maintain an integrated economy while initiating the marketisation of the economy. On 19 December COMSE was dissolved by a presidential decree, and on 26 December 1991 Silayev resigned from his post as IEC Chairman.
; he resigned from this post on 7 February 1994. In late 1994 Silayev became the President of the Machine-Building Association of the Commonwealth of Independent States
(CIS), which consisted of more than a hundred civilian and military enterprises and associations, mostly of Russian origin. He became a member of the Ecological Movement "Cedar" in 1995. Since 1998, he has been President of Industrial Machine, a industrial and financial group; he has simultaneously headed the National Committee, which promotes economic cooperation with Latin America
. On 26 September 2002 Silayev became Chairman of the Russian Union of Mechanical Engineers. His wife died on 18 March 2006. During the 2007 legislative election
Silayev ran as a candidate for the Agrarian Party, but failed to get elected.
on two different occasions—one in 1971, and another during a closed session of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet
in 1975, when he was also awarded a Hero of Socialist Labour. In 1981 he was awarded the Order of the October Revolution
and in 2002 the National Prize of Peter the Great. On 19 October 2000 and on 21 October 2005 Silayev was awarded the Diploma of the Government of the Russian Federation.
Nizhny Novgorod Oblast
Nizhny Novgorod Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Nizhny Novgorod. Population: The oblast is crossed by the Volga River. Apart from Nizhny Novgorod's metropolitan area, the biggest city is Arzamas...
, Russian SFSR
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , commonly referred to as Soviet Russia, Bolshevik Russia, or simply Russia, was the largest, most populous and economically developed republic in the former Soviet Union....
, Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
) is a former Soviet
Soviet people
Soviet people or Soviet nation was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Initially used as a nonspecific reference to the Soviet population, it was eventually declared to be a "new historical, social and international unity of people".-Nationality politics in early Soviet...
official who became a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n politician following the dissolution of the Soviet Union
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...
. He served as Premier of the Soviet Union
Premier of the Soviet Union
The office of Premier of the Soviet Union was synonymous with head of government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics . Twelve individuals have been premier...
through the offices of Chairman of the Interstate Economic Committee and Chairman of the Committee on the Operational Management of the Soviet economy from 6 September to 26 December 1991. Responsible for overseeing the economy of the Soviet Union during the late Gorbachev Era, he was the last Premier of the Soviet Union.
After graduating in the 1950s, Silayev began his political career in the Ministry of Aviation Industry
Ministry of Aviation Industry (Soviet Union)
The People's Commissariat of Aviation Industry of the USSR was the central office in the Soviet Union, the equivalent of a ministry, which oversaw production of the aviation industry....
in the 1970s. During the Brezhnev Era
History of the Soviet Union (1964–1982)
The history of the Soviet Union from 1964 to 1982, referred to as the Brezhnev Era, covers the period of Leonid Brezhnev's rule of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics . This period began with high economic growth and soaring prosperity, but ended with a much weaker Soviet Union facing social,...
he became Minister of Aviation Industry, a Central Committee
Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , abbreviated in Russian as ЦК, "Tse-ka", earlier was also called as the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party ...
member, and Minister of Machine-Tool and Tool Building Industry. When Nikolai Tikhonov
Nikolai Tikhonov
Nikolai Aleksandrovich Tikhonov was a Soviet Russian-Ukrainian statesman during the Cold War. He served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1980 to 1985, and as a First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, literally First Vice Premier, from 1976 to 1980...
's Second Government
Tikhonov's Second Government
The former government of Nikolai Tikhonov was dissolved following the Soviet legislative election of 1984 which gave a clear majority in favour of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union...
was dissolved, Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
appointed him Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers in Nikolai Ryzhkov
Nikolai Ryzhkov
Nikolai Ivanovich Ryzhkov was a Soviet official who became a Russian politician following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. He served as the last Chairman of the Council of Ministers or Premier of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991...
's First Government. He left all posts in the central government
Government of the Soviet Union
The Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was the de jure government comprising the highest executive and administrative body of the Soviet Union from 1946 until 1991....
in 1990 to focus in his post as Chairman of the Council of Ministers – Government
Government of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Government of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic was known officially as the Council of People's Commissars , Council of Ministers and Council of Ministers – Government -Council of People's Commissars:...
of the Russian SFSR
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , commonly referred to as Soviet Russia, Bolshevik Russia, or simply Russia, was the largest, most populous and economically developed republic in the former Soviet Union....
. He faced several cabinet difficulties during his tenure, and supported the majority of Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
's policies. Having opposed Yeltsin's secessionist policies during his tenure as Soviet Premier, he was removed from his post as Russian SFSR Premier and succeeded in his post by acting Premier Oleg Lobov
Oleg Lobov
Oleg Ivanovich Lobov is a Russian politician who served as acting First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic) from 19th April 1991 - 15th November 1991 and also was acting Chairman of the Council of Ministers – Government of the Russian...
.
When he became Premier of the Soviet Union on 6 September 1991, Silayev opposed some of Yeltsin's policies which led to the disintegration of the Soviet Union. After Silayev resigned as Soviet Premier, he continued to work for the Yeltsin administration as the Permanent Representative of Russia to the European Community until his resignation in 1994. During the 2007 legislative election
Russian legislative election, 2007
Legislative elections were held in the Russian Federation on 2 December 2007. At stake were the 450 seats in the State Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia . Eleven parties were included in the ballot, including Russia's largest party, United Russia, which was supported by...
Silayev ran as a candidate for the Agrarian Party of Russia.
Early life and career
Silayev was born on born on 21 October 1930 in Baktyzino, Nizhny Novgorod OblastNizhny Novgorod Oblast
Nizhny Novgorod Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Nizhny Novgorod. Population: The oblast is crossed by the Volga River. Apart from Nizhny Novgorod's metropolitan area, the biggest city is Arzamas...
, Russian SFSR
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , commonly referred to as Soviet Russia, Bolshevik Russia, or simply Russia, was the largest, most populous and economically developed republic in the former Soviet Union....
, Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, and graduated from the Kazan Aviation Institute in 1954 as a mechanical engineer. In 1959 Silayev became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
(CPSU). During his tenure at the Gorky Aviation Plant (Gorky is now Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...
), where he started in 1954, he advanced from the lowest level to become the plant's foreman from 1971 to 1974. Silayev then served as Deputy Minister of Aviation Industry, and was later appointed Minister of Aviation Industry
Ministry of Aviation Industry (Soviet Union)
The People's Commissariat of Aviation Industry of the USSR was the central office in the Soviet Union, the equivalent of a ministry, which oversaw production of the aviation industry....
in 1981 in Nikolai Tikhonov
Nikolai Tikhonov
Nikolai Aleksandrovich Tikhonov was a Soviet Russian-Ukrainian statesman during the Cold War. He served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1980 to 1985, and as a First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, literally First Vice Premier, from 1976 to 1980...
's first government
Tikhonov's First Government
The former government of Alexei Kosygin was dissolved following his resignation in October 1980. Nikolai Tikhonov took over the office of the Premier. The government was dissolved following the nationwide 1984 legislative election.-Ministries:-Committees:...
. He served briefly as Minister of Machine-Tool and Tool Building Industry of the Soviet Union from 1980 to 1981. At the 26th Congress Silayev was elected a member of the Central Committee
Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , abbreviated in Russian as ЦК, "Tse-ka", earlier was also called as the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party ...
(CPSU). In 1985, during Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
's rule, Silayev was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Chairman of the Machine-Building Bureau of the Council of Ministers in Nikolai Ryzhkov
Nikolai Ryzhkov
Nikolai Ivanovich Ryzhkov was a Soviet official who became a Russian politician following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. He served as the last Chairman of the Council of Ministers or Premier of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991...
's first and second government. He served in these posts until he was appointed Premier of the Russian SFSR in 1990.
Appointment
The election of a Chairman of the Council of Ministers – GovernmentGovernment of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Government of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic was known officially as the Council of People's Commissars , Council of Ministers and Council of Ministers – Government -Council of People's Commissars:...
of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , commonly referred to as Soviet Russia, Bolshevik Russia, or simply Russia, was the largest, most populous and economically developed republic in the former Soviet Union....
(RSFSR), literally Premier of the Russian SFSR, was not considered a very important event; the Premier was elected following the election of the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR, the Supreme Soviet's deputy chairman, and after a debate on Russian agriculture. Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
, the Chairman of the Russian SFSR Supreme Soviet, was ordered to select candidates for the post of Premier to the Supreme Soviet. Mikhail Bocharov, a successful businessman and leader of the cooperative movement, rector of the Moscow Aviation Institute
Moscow Aviation Institute
Moscow Aviation Institute is one of several major engineering higher education establishments in Moscow .Although the school is currently offering a wide range of majors and research...
Yuri Ryzhkov, and Silayev were chosen as the candidates. Ryzhkov withdrew his candidacy before the first round of voting was finished. During the election Bocharov revealed his radical economic reform plan to the Supreme Soviet deputies; in it industry would be privatised, and subsidies to unprofitable enterprises would cease in a 100 Days reform package. Silayev did not have any similar economic reform plans, but was widely considered to be Yeltsin's favourite for the post.
In the first round of voting Silayev earned 119 votes, while Bocharov earned 86 votes. To be elected to the post, a candidate needed to win over half of the vote; neither Silayev or Bocharov succeeded in this. Seeing that Silayev was Yeltsin's favourite, and had won more votes than Bocharov, Silayev ran unchallenged in the second election round, and was thus elected by a large margin.
Gorbachev tried to break the Silayev–Yeltsin alliance but to no avail. In 1989, Valentin Pavlov
Valentin Pavlov
Valentin Sergeyevich Pavlov was a Soviet official who became a Russian banker following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Born in the city of Moscow, then part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Pavlov began his political career in the Ministry of Finance in 1959...
, the Prime Minister of the Soviet Union
Premier of the Soviet Union
The office of Premier of the Soviet Union was synonymous with head of government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics . Twelve individuals have been premier...
from 14 January to 22 August 1991, had gathered together enough information on the errors and omissions of Silayev to weaken his position as Deputy Premier. Silayev never forgave Pavlov and relations between the two grew colder when Pavlov became the Prime Minister.
Silayev's government
Silayev repeatedly opined that if he ever was given conflicting instructions by the Premier of the Soviet Union and Yeltsin, he would always "observe the laws of the RSFSR", meaning he would obey Yeltsin. During his tenure as Premier, Silayev was never the de facto leader of the government cabinet, and was loyal to Yeltsin and the Supreme Soviet. In contrast to his predecessor, Aleksandr Vlasov, Silayev tried to modernise the Russian Government. Silayev decided to break with the old Soviet nomenklaturaNomenklatura
The nomenklatura were a category of people within the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries who held various key administrative positions in all spheres of those countries' activity: government, industry, agriculture, education, etc., whose positions were granted only with approval by the...
system of electing cabinet members by electing members using an "objective" and "scientific" basis. To accomplish this, Silayev asked professional psychologists to interview candidate cabinet members. Only 14 of the 200 cabinet candidates were recommended for a post in the government cabinet; even so, several of the candidates were given a post in the new government. All candidate members were selected by either Silayev, Yeltsin, or the Supreme Soviet.
Silayev's government lacked ideological unity, and several conservative members were elected to the cabinet in July 1990, among them Oleg Lobov
Oleg Lobov
Oleg Ivanovich Lobov is a Russian politician who served as acting First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic) from 19th April 1991 - 15th November 1991 and also was acting Chairman of the Council of Ministers – Government of the Russian...
and Gennadii Kulik. In November 1990 Grigory Yavlinsky resigned from his cabinet post, citing the failure of the 500 Days Programme. However, some commentators believe Yavlinsky resigned because of frequent conflict between him and other cabinet members. RSFSR Minister of Finance
Ministry of Finance (RSFSR)
Ministry of Finance of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , known prior to 1946 as the People's Commissariat for Finance , or shorten to Narkomfin was part of the government of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1918 to the collapse of the USSR in 1991...
Boris Fyodorov resigned on 5 December 1990, and accused the First Deputy Premiers of taking important financial decisions on behalf of the ministry and him as minister behind his back. Lobov, the First Deputy Premier in charge of regional development, had become a de facto leader of the cabinet. Lobov was Yeltsin's favourite, and tried to weaken Silayev's position within the cabinet. With the consent of the Supreme Soviet Silayev established a 16-member Presidium for the cabinet.
Another problem facing Silayev was that the Supreme Soviet was usurping the power of the executive branch by strengthening the legislative branch. To accomplish this the Supreme Soviet established duplicated entities, such as the Committee for Mass Media, which duplicated the functions of the Ministry of Mass Media. Viktor Kisin, the Minister of Industry, told the press that the only employee of his ministry was in fact himself. In July 1990 Silayev agreed to create parallel executive-legislative administrative bodies.
In December 1990 the Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian SFSR entrusted Silayev and his government to create a new plan for economic reform. The plan was finished in April 1991, and was referred to as the "Yeltsin–Silayev". The plan was heavily influenced by the 500 Days Programme, and supported privatisation and the marketisation of the economy. The reform plan was criticised by an official from the State Committee on Economic Reform of the central government; he called the plan "a statement of intents"; instead of an economic reform, he called it a "manifesto". A Supreme Soviet deputy noted the proposed reform lacked real statistical insight. Even so, the proposed reform received a majority in a Supreme Soviet vote; Yeltsin's supporters knew that his economic reform proposal had to be accepted before the July presidential election
Russian presidential election, 1991
Presidential elections were held in the Russian Federation on 12 June 1991. It was the first presidential election in the country's history. Boris Yeltsin was elected President of the Russian SFSR. His running-mate, Alexander Rutskoi, became Vice-President....
. Following the July presidential election the Russian government resigned, and the post of premier was once again up for election. Silayev had strong competitors for the post, such as Yurii Skokov, but won the election.
Soviet premiership
The State Committee for the State of EmergencyGang of Eight (Soviet Union)
The State Committee on the State of Emergency was a group of eight high-level officials within the Soviet government, the Communist party and the KGB who attempted a coup against Mikhail Gorbachev on 18 August 1991...
failed to arrest Silayev or any other high-standing Russian state officials during the August Coup. Silayev was one of several leading Russian SFSR politicians who flew to Gorbachev's summer house in the immediate aftermath of the failed coup. On 24 August the Russian SFSR Council of Ministers
Government of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Government of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic was known officially as the Council of People's Commissars , Council of Ministers and Council of Ministers – Government -Council of People's Commissars:...
issued a decree transferring central government authority over economic and communications ministries to the RSFSR Government, and took control of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
and KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
archives. With the central government's authority greatly weakened, Gorbachev established a four-man committee, led by Silayev, that included Grigory Yavlinsky, Arkadi Volsky, and Yuri Luzhkov, to elect a new Cabinet of Ministers. This committee was later transformed into the Committee on the Operational Management of the Soviet economy (COMSE), also chaired by Silayev, to manage the Soviet economy. COMSE was quickly surpassed in authority by the Interstate Economic Committee (IEC), also officially known as the Economic Community, which was established on 20 September under the name Inter-Republican Economic Committee. Its function was to coordinate economic policy across the Soviet Union. As Chairman of both COMSE and the IEC, Silayev presided over a quickly disintegrating Soviet Union. On 6 September 1991 a presidential decree temporarily gave the IEC the same authority as the Cabinet of Ministers, and Silayev became the Soviet Union's de facto Premier
Premier of the Soviet Union
The office of Premier of the Soviet Union was synonymous with head of government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics . Twelve individuals have been premier...
.
When he first took office, Silayev wanted to reduce the powers of the central government and give more powers to the Soviet Republics
Republics of the Soviet Union
The Republics of the Soviet Union or the Union Republics of the Soviet Union were ethnically-based administrative units that were subordinated directly to the Government of the Soviet Union...
. This view changed; he demanded that Yeltsin give back much of the authority of the central government which he had usurped following the August Coup. In this he failed, and his position as Russian SFSR Premier was severely weakened as a result. Oleg Lobov, Silayev's First Deputy Premier, led the anti-Silayev faction in the Russian SFSR Council of Ministers and managed to oust him on 26 September 1991; Lobov succeeded Silayev as acting Premier of the Russian SFSR. Silayev, as overseer of the economy, was given the task of initiating economic reforms in the Soviet Union in a way that suited both the central government and the Soviet republics. Silayev tried to maintain an integrated economy while initiating the marketisation of the economy. On 19 December COMSE was dissolved by a presidential decree, and on 26 December 1991 Silayev resigned from his post as IEC Chairman.
Post-Soviet Russia
On 18 December 1991 Silayev became the Permanent Representative of Russia to the European Community in BrusselsBrussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
; he resigned from this post on 7 February 1994. In late 1994 Silayev became the President of the Machine-Building Association of the Commonwealth of Independent States
Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics, formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union....
(CIS), which consisted of more than a hundred civilian and military enterprises and associations, mostly of Russian origin. He became a member of the Ecological Movement "Cedar" in 1995. Since 1998, he has been President of Industrial Machine, a industrial and financial group; he has simultaneously headed the National Committee, which promotes economic cooperation with Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
. On 26 September 2002 Silayev became Chairman of the Russian Union of Mechanical Engineers. His wife died on 18 March 2006. During the 2007 legislative election
Russian legislative election, 2007
Legislative elections were held in the Russian Federation on 2 December 2007. At stake were the 450 seats in the State Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia . Eleven parties were included in the ballot, including Russia's largest party, United Russia, which was supported by...
Silayev ran as a candidate for the Agrarian Party, but failed to get elected.
Recognition
Silayev has been awarded an Order of LeninOrder of Lenin
The Order of Lenin , named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union...
on two different occasions—one in 1971, and another during a closed session of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet
Presidium of the Supreme Soviet
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet was a Soviet governmental institution – a permanent body of the Supreme Soviets . This body was of the all-Union level , as well as in all Soviet republics and autonomous republics...
in 1975, when he was also awarded a Hero of Socialist Labour. In 1981 he was awarded the Order of the October Revolution
Order of the October Revolution
The Order of the October Revolution was instituted on October 31, 1967, in time for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was awarded to individuals or groups for services furthering communism or the state, or in enhancing the defenses of the Soviet Union, military and civil...
and in 2002 the National Prize of Peter the Great. On 19 October 2000 and on 21 October 2005 Silayev was awarded the Diploma of the Government of the Russian Federation.