Nikolai Talyzin

Nikolai Vladimirovich Talyzin (Никола́й Влади́мирович Талы́зин) (born 28 January 1929 - 23 January 1991) was a Soviet statesman, economist and head of the Gosplan, or the State Planning Committee.

Talyzin was Chosen by Mikhail Gorbachev in October 1985 to help start the program of economic change known as perestroika, after serving five years as the Soviet representative at Comecon, the Eastern European trade bloc. He was appointed head of the State Planning Commission, or Gosplan, when almost every sector of the Soviet economy was still firmly under state control. He became one of the three First Deputy Premiers at this time, as well as a non-voting member of the Communist Party Politburo.

The planning commission's task shifted from setting production targets to mapping out economic strategy, as Gorbachev pushed his economic reforms. Talyzin came under strong criticism, and moved to the post of head of the Bureau for Social Development in 1988, blamed for slowing reforms. In September 1989, with perestroika failing to produce the promised results, he was dismissed, along with many other conservatives in Nikolai Ryzhkov's government, whom he blamed for slowing the pace of reforms.

Awards and decorations

 * Order of Lenin
 * Order of the October Revolution
 * Order of the Red Banner of Labour
 * Order of the Red Star
 * Laureate of the State Prize of the USSR, twice (1968, 1974)