The office of Premier of the Soviet Union was synonymous with head of government

Head of government

Head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled prime minister, chief minister, premier, etc...

 of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

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....

 (USSR). Twelve individuals have been premier. Two of the twelve premiers died in office of natural causes (Vladimir Lenin

Vladimir Lenin

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...

 and Joseph Stalin

Joseph Stalin

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...

), three resigned (Alexei Kosygin, 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...

 and Ivan Silayev

Ivan Silayev

Ivan Stepanovich Silayev is a former Soviet official who became a Russian 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...

), and three held the offices of party leader and premier simultaneously (Lenin, Stalin and Nikita Khrushchev

Nikita Khrushchev

Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...

). The first premier was Lenin, who was inaugurated in 1922 after the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR

Treaty on the Creation of the USSR

The Treaty on the Creation of the USSR is a document that legalized the creation of a union of several Soviet republics in the form of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics...

. Ivan Silayev

Ivan Silayev

Ivan Stepanovich Silayev is a former Soviet official who became a Russian 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...

 spent the shortest time in office at 126 days in 1991. At over fourteen years, Kosygin spent the longest time in office, and became the only premier to head more than two government cabinets; he died shortly after his resignation in 1980.

The Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom) was established on 8 November 1917 by 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) 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:...

. Article 38 of the 1924 Soviet Constitution

1924 Soviet Constitution

The 1924 Soviet Constitution legitimated the December 1922 union of the Russian SFSR, the Ukrainian SSR, the Belarusian SSR, and the Transcaucasian SFSR to form the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics....

 stated that the Council's powers, functions and duties were given to it by the Central Executive Committee

Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union

The Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union was the highest governing body in the Soviet Union in the interim of the sessions of the Congress of Soviets, existed from 1922 until 1938, when it was replaced by the Supreme Soviet of first convocation....

 (CEC) which supervised the Council's work and legislative acts. The Council of People's Commissars published decrees and decisions that were binding throughout the Soviet Union. In 1946, the Council of People's Commissars was transformed into the Council of Ministers (Sovmin) at both all-Union and Union Republic level.

In 1964, after Nikita Khrushchev

Nikita Khrushchev

Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...

's ouster, a plenum 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 ...

 (CC) forbade any single individual to hold the two most powerful posts of the country (the office of the General Secretary

General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the title given to the leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. With some exceptions, the office was synonymous with leader of the Soviet Union...

 and the premier), and Kosygin was in charge of economic administration in his role as Chairman of the Council of Ministers. However Kosygin's position was weakened when he proposed an economic reform in 1965

1965 Soviet economic reform

The 1965 Soviet economic reform, widely referred to simply as the Kosygin reform or Liberman reform, was a reform of economic management and planning, carried out between 1965 and 1971...

. Under the 1977 Soviet Constitution

1977 Soviet Constitution

At the Seventh Session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR Ninth Convocation on October 7, 1977, the third and last Soviet Constitution, also known as the "Brezhnev Constitution", was unanimously adopted...

, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers was the head of government of the USSR. The premier was the chief of the executive branch and head of the union 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....

 as a whole, the premiership was the highest governmental office in the Soviet Union by influence and recognition until the establishment of the Presidency

President of the Soviet Union

The President of the Soviet Union , officially called President of the USSR was the Head of State of the USSR from 15 March 1990 to 25 December 1991. Mikhail Gorbachev was the only person to occupy the office. Gorbachev was also General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between...

 in 1990. The premier was responsible and accountable to the Supreme Soviet, and in the period between sessions of the Supreme Soviet, accountable to 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...

. The premier was tasked with resolving all state administrative duties within the jurisdiction

Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility...

 of the USSR to the degree that it did not come under the competence of the Supreme Soviet or the Presidium. The premier managed the national economy, formulated the five-year plans and ensured socio-cultural development.

When 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...

 was replaced as premier by 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 Council of Ministers was dissolved and replaced by the Cabinet of Ministers

Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR

Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR functioned as the administrative, executive body and the government after the Council of Ministers was dissolved. It consisted of the Prime Minister, his deputies and the ministers....

, while the chairmanship was replaced by the office of Prime Minister of the Soviet Union. After the failed August Coup of 1991, and the revelation that the majority of the cabinet members supported the coup, the Cabinet of Ministers was dissolved and replaced by the Committee on the Operational Management of the Soviet economy in 1991. The Operational Management Committee was renamed the Inter-Republican Economic Committee, and was later replaced by the Interstate Economic Committee (IEC), the IEC was also officially known as the Economic Community.

List of Premiers

# These numbers are not official.	Name (birth–death)		Tenure	Electorate	Cabinets
1	Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (1922–46)
	Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a... (1870–1924)		30 December 1922 – 21 January 1924	—	Lenin I–II
			Regarded as the first Soviet Premier; led the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party Russian Social Democratic Labour Party The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party , also known as Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party or Russian Social Democratic Party, was a revolutionary socialist Russian political party formed in 1898 in Minsk to unite the various revolutionary organizations into one party...  (RSDLP) through the Russian Revolution (February February Revolution The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...  and October Revolution October Revolution The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917... ) and successfully created the world's first socialist state, the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (RSFSR), and established the 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....  in 1922.
2	Alexey Rykov (1881–1938)		2 February 1924 – 19 December 1930	1929 Soviet Union legislative election, 1929 In 1929, elections were held to the Congress of Soviets of the Soviet Union.The elections were noteworthy for their rowdiness and elements of political opposition...	Rykov I
			A member of the moderate faction within the Bolshevik Party. He was forced, along with other moderates, to "admit their mistakes" to the party and, in 1930, Rykov lost his premiership because of it.
3	Vyacheslav Molotov Vyacheslav Molotov Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov was a Soviet politician and diplomat, an Old Bolshevik and a leading figure in the Soviet government from the 1920s, when he rose to power as a protégé of Joseph Stalin, to 1957, when he was dismissed from the Presidium of the Central Committee by Nikita Khrushchev... (1890–1986)		19 December 1930 – 6 May 1941	1937 Soviet Union legislative election, 1937 On 12 December 1937 elections were held to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. It was the first election held under the 1936 Soviet Constitution, which had formed the Supreme Soviet to replace the old legislature, the Congress of Soviets of the Soviet Union....	Molotov I
			He oversaw Stalin's collectivisation of agriculture, the implementation of the First Five-Year Plan, industrialisation Industrialisation Industrialization is the process of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial one...  of the USSR and the Great Purge Great Purge The Great Purge was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin from 1936 to 1938...  of 1937–38. Despite the great human cost, the Soviet Union under Molotov's nominal premiership made great strides in the adoption and widespread implementation of agrarian and industrial technology.
4	Joseph Stalin Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee... (1878–1953)		6 May 1941 – 15 March 1946	1946 Soviet Union legislative election, 1946 On 10 February 1946, elections were held to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union.The Supreme Soviet was made up of two chambers, each of 750 deputies: the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities On 10 February 1946, elections were held to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union.The...	Stalin I
			Led the country through the Great Patriotic War Eastern Front (World War II) The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...  (World War II World War II World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis... ) and started the country's reconstruction period. He re-named the office of the People's Commissars to the Council of Ministers.
	Chairman of the Council of Ministers (1946–1991)
	Joseph Stalin Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee... (1878–1953)		15 March 1946 – 5 March 1953	1950 Soviet Union legislative election, 1950 On 12 March 1950, elections were held to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union.The Supreme Soviet was made up of two chambers, each of 750 deputies: the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities .According...	Stalin II
			After the war, Stalin installed communist governments in most of Eastern Europe, forming the Eastern Bloc Eastern bloc The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact... , behind what was referred to as an "Iron Curtain Iron Curtain The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989... " of Soviet rule during the long period of antagonism between the Western world and the USSR, known as the Cold War Cold War The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States... .
5	Georgy Malenkov Georgy Malenkov Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov was a Soviet politician, Communist Party leader and close collaborator of Joseph Stalin. After Stalin's death, he became Premier of the Soviet Union and was in 1953 briefly considered the most powerful Soviet politician before being overshadowed by Nikita... (1902–88)		6 March 1953 – 8 February 1955	1954 Soviet Union legislative election, 1954 On 14 March 1954, elections were held to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union.The Supreme Soviet was made up of two chambers, each of 750 deputies: the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities .According...	Malenkov I–II
			Took over after Stalin's death, but lost in the ensuing power struggle against Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964... . He continued to hold the office of premier until Khrushchev started the process of de-Stalinisation. He was replaced on Khrushchev's orders by Nikolai Bulganin Nikolai Bulganin Nikolai Alexandrovich Bulganin was a prominent Soviet politician, who served as Minister of Defense and Premier of the Soviet Union . The Bulganin beard is named after him.-Early career:... .
6	Nikolai Bulganin Nikolai Bulganin Nikolai Alexandrovich Bulganin was a prominent Soviet politician, who served as Minister of Defense and Premier of the Soviet Union . The Bulganin beard is named after him.-Early career:... (1895–1975)		8 February 1955 – 27 March 1958	1958 Soviet Union legislative election, 1958 On 16 March 1958, elections were held to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union.The Supreme Soviet was made up of two chambers, each of 750 deputies: the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities .According...	Bulganin I
			Oversaw the period of de-Stalinisation. While being a strong supporter of Khrushchev at first, he started doubting some of his more radical policies and, accused of being a member of the Anti-Party Group Anti-Party Group The Anti-Party Group was a group within the leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union that unsuccessfully attempted to depose Nikita Khrushchev as First Secretary of the Party in May 1957. The group, named by that epithet by Khrushchev, was led by former Premiers Georgy Malenkov and... , was eventually replaced by Khrushchev himself.
7	Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964... (1894–1971)		27 March 1958 – 14 October 1964	1962 Soviet Union legislative election, 1962 On 18 March 1962, elections were held to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union.The Supreme Soviet was made up of two chambers, each of 750 deputies: the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities .According...	Khrushchev I–II
			Led the country through the Cuban Missile Crisis Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War... . Oversaw plenty of reforms and policy innovations, such as the 1961 monetary reform. His increasingly erratic behaviour led to his removal by the nomenklatura Nomenklatura 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...  both as premier and First Secretary of the Communist Party.
8	Alexei Kosygin (1904–80)		15 October 1964 – 23 October 1980	1966 Soviet Union legislative election, 1966 In 12 June 1966, elections were held to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union.The Supreme Soviet was made up of two chambers, each of 750 deputies: the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities .According... , 1970 Soviet Union legislative election, 1970 On 14 June 1970, elections were held to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union.The Supreme Soviet was made up of two chambers, each of 750 deputies: the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities .According... , 1974, 1979 Soviet Union legislative election, 1979 On 4 March 1979, elections were held to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union.The Supreme Soviet was made up of two chambers, each of 750 deputies: the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities .According...	Kosygin I Kosygin's first government The former government of Nikita Khrushchev was dissolved following his removal from the post of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers. Alexei Kosygin was elected Premier by the Politburo and the Central Committee following the removal of Khrushchev. His first government would last for two years,... –V Kosygin's Fifth Government The former government of Alexei Kosygin was dissolved following the Soviet legislative election of 1979. Kosygin was once again elected Premier by the Politburo and the Central Committee following the election...
			Was one of three leading members of the collective leadership Collective leadership Collective leadership or Collectivity of leadership , was considered an ideal form of governance in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics...  with Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev  – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...  and Nikolai Podgorny Nikolai Podgorny Nikolai Viktorovich Podgorny was a Soviet Ukrainian statesman during the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, or leader of the Ukrainian SSR, from 1957 to 1963 and as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet from 1965 to 1977... . He ruled through the era known as the Era of Stagnation. Kosygin initiated three large scale economic reforms under his leadership; the 1965 1965 Soviet economic reform The 1965 Soviet economic reform, widely referred to simply as the Kosygin reform or Liberman reform, was a reform of economic management and planning, carried out between 1965 and 1971... , the 1973–74 and the 1979 reform 1979 Soviet economic reform The 1979 Soviet economic reform, or "Improving planning and reinforcing the effects of the economic mechanism on raising the effectiveness in production and improving the quality of work", was an economic reform initiated by Alexei Kosygin, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers... . He retired from office in October 1980 and died two months later.
9	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... (1905–97)	—	23 October 1980 – 27 September 1985	1984 Soviet Union legislative election, 1984 On 4 March 1984, elections were held to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union.The Supreme Soviet was made up of two chambers, each of 750 deputies: the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities .In the...	Tikhonov I 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:... –II 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...
			After Kosygin's departure, Tikhonov became the new premier; he held the office through the rules of Brezhnev's late rule, Yuri Andropov Yuri Andropov Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov was a Soviet politician and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 12 November 1982 until his death fifteen months later.-Early life:... , Konstantin Chernenko Konstantin Chernenko Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko was a Soviet politician and the fifth General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He led the Soviet Union from 13 February 1984 until his death thirteen months later, on 10 March 1985...  and the very beginning of 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 tenure. In between Andropov's last days and Chernenko's rise to power, Tikhonov was the de facto De facto De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or... 'leader of the Soviet Union'.
10	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... (born 1929)		27 September 1985 – 14 January 1991	1989 Soviet Union legislative election, 1989 In 1989, elections were held for the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union. The main elections were held on 26 March and a second round on 9 April...	Ryzhkov I–II
			Ryzhkov supported Gorbachev's attempt to revive and restructure the Soviet economy through decentralising planning and introducing new technology. However, he resisted Gorbachev's later attempts to introduce market mechanisms into the Soviet economy. He was forced to resign when his office as Chairman of the Council of Ministers was dissolved.
11	Prime Minister of the Soviet Union (1991)
	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... (1937–2003)	—	14 January 1991 – 22 August 1991	—	Pavlov I
			Pavlov was elected to the new position of Prime Minister as a compromise candidate. He carried out a highly unsuccessful 1991 monetary reform which failed and led him to join the State Committee of the State of Emergency. The State Committee attempted to depose Gorbachev on 19 August. With the collapse of the coup, Pavlov was arrested on 29 August.
12	Chairman of the Interstate Economic Committee – Prime Minister of the Economic Community (1991)
	Ivan Silayev Ivan Silayev Ivan Stepanovich Silayev is a former Soviet official who became a Russian 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... (born 1930)	—	6 September 1991 – 26 December 1991	—	Silayev I Silayev's Government The former government of Valentin Pavlov was dissolved following the failed August Coup against Mikhail Gorbachev and his supporters. Ivan Silayev took over the office of the Premier...
			After the August Coup of 1991, the Soviet government lost much of its power over the republics. Silayev was unable, together with Gorbachev, to hold the Soviet state together which eventually led to its demise.