Late Soviet foreign-economic official
At the Čierna nad Tisou talks, watching Katushev argue the Soviet case, Czechoslovak National Assembly President Josef Smrkovský observed that he did so "with the toughness of two Molotovs put together."
A mechanical engineer from the Gorky Automobile Plant who rose rapidly under Brezhnev's patronage, becoming the youngest CC Secretary in 1968 at age 40. During the Prague Spring he handled Soviet negotiating work with the Czechoslovak leadership and went on to oversee relations with the entire socialist bloc. His sudden demotion to Deputy Premier in 1977 marked the end of his inner-circle career; after serving as ambassador to Cuba, he returned under Gorbachev as Minister of Foreign Economic Relations, managing the practical work of opening the Soviet economy. After the USSR's collapse he lived out a quiet retirement as a commercial bank executive.
Career Timeline
- 1960sRises through Gorky regional and party economic-management work
- 1968–1977CC secretary handling industrial and economic coordination
- 1977–1982Deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers, involved in economic administration
- 1982–1985Works on Comecon and foreign-economic cooperation
- 1988–1991Minister of Foreign Economic Relations, managing trade and joint-venture opening during perestroika
1968 Prague Spring and Elevation to CC Secretary
On April 10, 1968, Katushev was elevated to CC Secretary, succeeding Yuri Andropov and taking charge of relations with socialist countries, Comecon, and Warsaw Pact members. The youngest CC Secretary of the Brezhnev era, his rapid rise is directly linked to Soviet involvement in the 1968 Czechoslovak crisis (the Prague Spring). At the July 26–27, 1968 Politburo meeting that prepared for the Čierna nad Tisou talks with the Czechoslovak leadership, a draft prepared by Katushev and K.V. Rusakov drew fire from Petro Shelest and Nikolai Podgorny, who judged it too conciliatory. From 1972 he simultaneously headed the CC Department for Relations with Communist and Workers' Parties of Socialist Countries. After the Sino-Soviet border clash at Damansky Island, he flew to Beijing with Alexei Kosygin to seek normalization. He supported János Kádár's market experiments in Hungary and looked with understanding on Erich Honecker's more realistic course toward West Germany. But his plain-spoken independence and his rivalry with Rusakov cost him: in 1977 he was moved from CC Secretary to the lesser post of Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, an unmistakable demotion.