Uskoreniye (Acceleration)

Background and Origins

The term 'uskorenie' was first used by Yuri Andropov in November 1982, and from 1983 onward Gosplan began filling it with concrete content while reviewing long-term economic projections to the year 2000. Konstantin Chernenko also invoked the concept at a Writers' Union plenum in September 1984. But it was Gorbachev's April 1985 Plenum speech that declared it a full state policy.

Core Content

At the 27th Party Congress (February–March 1986), the accelerated development of machine-building was designated the number-one task. The 12th Five-Year Plan (1986–1990) allocated 200 billion rubles to the sector: more than the two previous five-year plans combined, with the goal of bringing 85% of civilian machine-building up to world standards. The approach was faithful to the Marxian economics postulate of heavy-industry primacy, combined with mobilizing the "human factor," tightening labor discipline, and increasing the accountability of party functionaries.

The Path to Failure

Investment did not translate into productivity gains. Expanded imports of machinery for the machine-building sector ate into the budget for consumer goods and grain imports, fuelling shortages and hidden inflation. In 1985 the state budget closed in deficit for the first time since the war; in 1986 the deficit tripled. The anti-alcohol campaign's loss of tax revenue, the collapse of world oil prices from spring 1986, and the cost of the Chernobyl disaster response deepened the fiscal hole.

Abandonment and Legacy

The failure of uskoreniye was effectively conceded at the June 1987 Central Committee Plenum, and the slogan was replaced by perestroika. The subsequent turn toward enterprise autonomy, cooperatives, and ultimately the 1989–1990 '500 Days' program toward a market economy was motivated directly by the failure of this administrative acceleration.