Towards the XXVII Congress of the CPSU

The COMECON Community is the most cohesive part of world socialism. It demonstrates the highest forms of development of the new system at the present stage, both within the national framework and in the sphere of new-type international relations. The conscious use by the ruling Marxist-Leninist parties of the general laws of socialism, the processes of gradual internationalization of the economic and cultural life of their countries collectively regulated by them-all this proves that the historical process under the conditions of socialism is becoming more and more predictable, but also directed in the interests of the peoples of these countries and of all mankind.

The history of the COMECON member states allows us to see the creative nature of the activities of fraternal Marxist - Leninist parties in establishing equal and mutually beneficial cooperation between sovereign socialist states. Live practice, constantly growing experience of interaction between them enrich the Marxist-Leninist theory. This article attempts to trace the evolution of economic relations between the COMECON member countries, describe the main stages of the integration process, as well as the prospects for its development, determined by the Economic Meeting of the COMECON member Countries at the highest level in 1984.

The economic potential of the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe included in the COMECON was not high enough at first. They produced electricity on the eve of the Second World War and became half as much as they are now1 . Their combined industrial production in the first post-war years was about one-sixth of the world's 2 . The economies of these countries were characterized by profound differences in the levels of economic development3 . The scale of the war damage was also enormous. The economies of these countries needed to recover.

By the time of the liberation of Czechoslovakia, its industry produced about half as much production as before the war, light industry was almost completely curtailed, and transport came to the upa-

1 Rusakov K. New frontiers of cohesion and development. Problemy mira i sotsializma [Problems of Peace and Socialism], 1984, No. 10, p. 5.

2 In 1950, according to rough estimates, the industrial production of seven COMECON member countries (Bulgaria, Hungary, the GDR, Poland, Romania, the USSR, and Czechoslovakia) was 17.6% of the world's (Belyaev Yu., Semenova L. COMECON countries in the World economy, Moscow 1967, p. 35).

3 By the time COMECON was formed, the level of industrial output per capita in Czechoslovakia, for example, was five times higher than in Romania, four times higher than in Bulgaria, and twice as high as in Poland and Hungary (see World Socialist System of Economy, Vol. 2, Moscow, 1967, p. 349).

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the dock. A number of major factories were destroyed just before the end of the war, without any military necessity, as a result of massive American air raids. Hitler's occupation led to the direct plunder of the country's national wealth in excess of $ 4 billion .4 In 1946, industrial production in East Germany was 42% of the pre-war level in the same territory .5 Poland lost 38% of its national wealth, and a fifth of the country's population died .6 The economic damage suffered by Hungary during the war years was five times the amount of its national income in 1938. Also, the amount of Bulgaria's national income for 1939 exceeded five times the amount owed to it by nazi Germany as a result of gratuitous export of raw materials during the war years. The Romanian economy was similarly robbed. The amount of losses suffered by its national economy as a result of the war exceeded 3.5 times the volume of national income in 1938.7 .

Under these circumstances, Soviet aid was the main external source of economic recovery in countries that were embarking on the path of democratic transformation. Since the export resources of the countries of Central and South - Eastern Europe were insignificant at the time of the end of the war, their economic ties with the USSR acquired for some time the nature of receiving gratuitous assistance and interest-free loans. Assistance began to be provided even during the liberation of these countries from the fascist invaders. In these areas, which became the rear of the Red Army, the Soviet government took care of providing the population with food, provided assistance in reviving normal economic life, primarily by restoring infrastructure - transport communications, electric power, housing and communal services, as well as enterprises that meet the primary needs of the population. Providing aid was not an easy task for the Soviet Union, with its enormous economic losses amounting to $ 128 billion. During the war years in the USSR, 33 thousand industrial enterprises were completely or partially destroyed, including 7.5 thousand of them of all-Union significance .8
The liberation of the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe from the fascist yoke has put on the agenda the issue of using foreign economic relations as one of the most important factors in mobilizing resources for the recovery of their economies. Although trade and contractual relations between most of the countries that embarked on the path of democratic transformation were established after the end of the war, the prerequisites for an intensive division of labor between them did not mature immediately. To a large extent, this was determined by the post-war devastation and the lack of sufficient export commodity funds. The very weak traditions of pre-war ties between these countries also affected. The complementarity of their economies was largely hindered by the similarity of agricultural and agricultural-industrial structures of national economic complexes.

The leading role in the foreign trade relations of the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe was immediately played by the Soviet Union, whose share in the pre - war period in the trade of these countries did not exceed 1-3% 9 . The first trade agreements concluded in 1944-1945 provided for-

4 Mayergoiz I. M. Czechoslovakia, Moscow, 1954, p. 80.

5 Dernberg S. Brief history of the GDR, Moscow, 1971, p. 35.

6 Foreign trade of the countries of popular democracy, Moscow, 1955, p. 110.

7 Faddeev N. V. Sovet Ekonomicheskoi Vzaimopomoschi [Council Of Mutual Economic Assistance]. Moscow, 1969, pp. 18, 19.

8 Country of Soviets for 50 years. Sat. stat. Moscow, 1967, p. 191.

9 The specific weight of the USSR in trade with Czechoslovakia, Poland and Romania was then 1.8, 0.45 and 0.4%, respectively. (Petrovsky D. Foreign trade policy of the countries of people's democracy. - Novoe vremya, 1948, N 2, p. 7).

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It is necessary to obtain from the USSR goods that are urgently needed for the normalization of economic life and the supply of the population-first of all, coal and coke, petroleum products, metals, rubber, rubber-technical products, asbestos, chemical goods, cotton, wool, some types of equipment, vehicles, as well as food products and grain. Credit relations have become important. In most cases, Soviet commodity loans provided the initial impetus that led to the launch of the first enterprises and the establishment of regular supplies to the population. Given the difficulties of the people's democratic countries in settling on capitalist markets, the Soviet Union provided them with a number of loans in convertible currency and gold .10
At the same time, in the first post-war years, the geographical structure of foreign trade in most countries of popular democracy, with a significant increase in the share of the USSR, was largely determined by the traditions of pre-war economic relations with the countries of Western Europe and the United States, whose share in the pre-war decade was from half to three-quarters of the foreign trade turnover of the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe, and by the import of machinery and the price was even higher. A new revival of contacts with the West in the conditions of post-war devastation, when many spare parts were needed for the surviving but worn-out machine fleet, was facilitated by traditional ties with Western firms that previously supplied these countries with basic types of production equipment and received various types of raw materials in return. In 1948, the share of capitalist states in commodity turnover reached: Czechoslovakia-68%, Hungary - 66%, Poland - 59%, Romania - 29%, East Germany - 25%, Bulgaria - 22% 11 .

Using economic and political levers, the imperialist Powers in the first post-war years repeatedly attempted to prevent people's democratic transformations in the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe. The British and American occupation authorities in West Germany delayed the return of Polish, Czechoslovak and Yugoslav property. In early 1946, the US government tried to delay the nationalization of fixed assets in Poland by refusing to grant a loan that was being negotiated at the time. As a means of pressure on the people's government, the freezing of Polish assets in British and American banks was used. For several months, the United States detained about 700 ships of the Danube states-Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Yugoslavia, which were returned only after the insistent demands of the Soviet Union12 .

The culmination point in the build-up of such pressure was the speech of US Secretary of State D. Marshall on June 5, 1947 at Harvard University. He proposed a plan for the post-war reconstruction of Europe with the help of the United States, while simultaneously putting forward a number of political conditions aimed at interfering in the internal affairs of other countries. The "Marshall Plan" was primarily based on the interests of American imperialism. It was intended to help stabilize capitalism in Western Europe, restore the military and economic potential of West Germany, restore capitalism in the countries of popular democracy, and at the same time strengthen American influence on the European continent and around the world. Understanding the plans of the ruling circles of the United States and England, the governments of the USSR, Bulgaria, and South Ossetia-

10 Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya posle vtoroi mirovoi voyny [International Relations after the Second World War].

11 See Foreign Trade in People's Democracies, p. 127, 155, 180, 208, 234, 261.

12 International Relations after the Second World War, vol. I, p. 151.

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The Czech Republic, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and Albania refused to participate in this plan.

Behind these decisions of the people's democratic Governments there was a serious internal political struggle, which had a pronounced class character. Bourgeois and social-democratic deputies in the Hungarian parliament actively sought the country's participation in the" Marshall Plan", seeing in it a means to torpedo the three-year plan 13 . The bourgeois parties of Romania saw in this plan a support for the consolidation of the counter-revolutionary forces removed from power. Resorting to pseudo-patriotic phrases, which concealed the hope of Western help, they persistently advocated the adoption of the plan and took a number of steps in July 1947 to persuade the government to such a decision, and intensified their speeches in the bourgeois press. Exposing the class character of these proposals, the Romanian Communist Party emphasized that "Romania, having entered the path of economic recovery and democratic consolidation, will not sell its freedom and independence." 14
In response to the negative stance taken by the countries of popular democracy in relation to the "Marshall Plan", the United States and - under their pressure - the leading European capitalist powers tried to organize an economic blockade of the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe. In February 1948, the U.S. government refused to grant Czechoslovakia a loan to buy cotton. Following this, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development rejected Poland's request for a loan to develop the economy. On March 1, 1948, the US Congress authorized the cessation of all exports to the USSR and the countries of popular democracy. The corresponding pressure was exerted on the countries participating in the "Marshall Plan". And although the system of "prohibition lists" for the export of goods to the countries of people's democracy and the USSR was formed later, in the early 50s, the United States and Western European countries repeatedly imposed a ban on the export of goods already manufactured and paid for in the second half of the 40s. So, in 1947, the US authorities refused to issue a license for the export of penicillin factory equipment paid for by Poland, as well as blooming worth $ 5 million. In 1947-1948. Poland was denied V. issuing licenses for various machines and a paid batch of laboratory equipment. France canceled the supply of cars to Poland, refused to transfer to it the tankers built for it and certain types of machine tools, for which it was fully paid. Under pressure from the Anglo-American monopolies, the supply of machinery and equipment from West Germany for the Polish coal industry was banned. The administration for the implementation of the" Marshall Plan " banned Italy from fulfilling Polish orders for the construction of a merchant fleet, and the British government requisitioned the Tatra and Beskida ships built for Poland .15 Other countries of popular democracy were also subjected to unilateral cancellation of orders and transactions.

Assessing the international situation that developed on the eve of the COMECON, it would be wrong to conclude that the process of reorientation of foreign economic relations of the people's democratic states to the USSR and the expansion of mutual trade between them was only the result of the discriminatory policy of the United States and its allies. This process had an objectively determined character, naturally

13 Ваш З. The completion of the three-year plan is a victory for our people. Budapest, 1950, pp. 1-2.

14 Romania during the People's Democratic Revolution of 1944-1947, Moscow, 1974, p. 267.

15 Barkovsky A. N. Ekonomika Polskoi Narodnoi Respubliki [Economy of the Polish People's Republic], Moscow, 1976, pp. 175-176.

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it stemmed from the economic and political foundations of socialism. However, the natural course of the formation of a new, equal type of international division of labor was disrupted. A sharp shift in the geographical direction of trade relations seriously tested the economy of both the countries of popular democracy and the Soviet Union. But the socialist economy passed this test.

The first post-war five-year plan for the restoration and development of the national economy of the USSR for 1946-1950 was largely a program for the economic revival of people's democratic states, since their urgent needs and needs were taken into account in Soviet plans for the development of industries that produced basic types of equipment, in plans for the production of agricultural products, capital construction, in terms of currency. The assistance of the Soviet Union helped to thwart the attempts of the imperialist Powers to influence the course of the class struggle in Eastern European countries by economic pressure. This assistance has far exceeded the promises of the West. According to estimates of Polish economists, Soviet investment loans received by Poland before 1949 for the industrialization of the country ($2.2 billion) were spent on the development of the economy. at the current price scale), they were equal to the cost of machinery and equipment supplied by the United States under the "Marshall Plan" 11 out of a total of 16 countries participating in this plan (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Portugal, Italy, Greece and Turkey)16 .

The agreements on mutual trade and payments concluded in 1945-1948 between the countries that later formed the COMECON were mostly annual. Most of these countries did not have the necessary prerequisites for concluding long-term agreements. In some of them, the state monopoly of foreign trade was not introduced, and the share of private firms in trade turnover was significant. Nevertheless, in a number of cases, long-term agreements were concluded, which characterized the transition to a higher level of relations between the members of the emerging socialist community.

The 4-year agreement between Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia of April 22, 1947,17 is typical in this regard . In accordance with the agreement, Czechoslovakia pledged to supply Bulgaria with equipment for power plants, metalworking machines, industrial equipment, rolled ferrous metals, as well as provide technical assistance in the construction of power plants and other industrial facilities. Based on this agreement, 15 power plants were built in Bulgaria with the help of Czechoslovakia. On July 4, 1947, a 5-year trade agreement was signed between Poland and Czechoslovakia .18 At the same time, agreements were signed on the supply of equipment from Czechoslovakia and on scientific and technical cooperation. The third most recent agreement was the Soviet-Bulgarian two-year agreement on trade turnover and payments of July 5, 1947. This agreement was further developed in the Treaty on Trade and Navigation, signed by the two countries on April 1, 1948. On December 11, 1947, the Treaty on Trade and Navigation and the Agreement on Trade and Payments for 1948-1952 were signed between the USSR and Czechoslovakia. At the same time, an agreement on scientific and technical cooperation was signed between them, which provided for a broad mutual exchange of technical knowledge.-

16 Economic cooperation and mutual assistance between the Soviet Union and the European people's democracies. M. 1958, p. 51.

17 Foreign trade of the countries of popular democracy, Moscow, 1961, p. 100.

18 Polienko A.M. Long-term economic agreements between European Socialist countries, Moscow, 1960, p. 12.

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experience and relevant information in the field of industrial production 19 .

The successful implementation of the annual agreements on trade turnover and payments between Poland and the USSR created the prerequisites for the conclusion of two long - term Soviet-Polish agreements. These agreements, signed on January 26, 1948, provided for the further development of both foreign trade and scientific and technical cooperation .20 In particular, the parties agreed to supply equipment on credit to several dozen Polish enterprises, as well as provide technical assistance in their design and construction. The agreement also outlined the first measures to establish the specialization of production. The trade agreement provided for the import of equipment, ships and a number of other goods necessary for the national economy of the USSR. Soviet long-term orders ensured the development of many export-oriented industries in Poland already at that time. This primarily concerned shipbuilding and the production of railway rolling stock. In the same year, based on the experience of annual agreements, the Bulgarian-Polish long-term agreement was signed for a period of five years, which provided for a significant expansion of economic cooperation and trade turnover. At the same time, an agreement was signed between Hungary and Czechoslovakia for 1949-1953 .21 It provided not only for the growth of trade turnover, but also for a significant expansion of the range of mutual supplies.

Along with the conclusion of long - term trade and economic agreements by individual countries, mixed bilateral commissions on economic, scientific, technical and industrial cooperation were being established during the period under review, whose tasks included developing measures and recommendations that were then submitted to the Governments of the respective countries. In this regard, the Polish-Czechoslovak Economic Cooperation Council (SPC), established in March 1948, was of particular interest.

Already at its first session (Prague, March 22-24, 1948), representatives of the two countries put forward a concrete program of close industrial cooperation. This program included: creation of conditions for Czechoslovakia to access the Baltic coast and equal use of its Polish part for the development of Czechoslovak maritime navigation; a plan for coordinating industrial production between both countries in order to avoid undesirable duplication of each other; a plan for coordinating the development of the Polish Silesian-Dombrow and Czech Moravian-Ostrava industrial basins in order to share energy sources development of a common network of gas pipelines, electricity, communications, communication routes, etc.; a plan for the mutual exchange of agricultural crops based on the experience and natural conditions of each country; systematic coordination of imports and exports of both countries to third countries and the creation of joint import-export organizations; comprehensive development and promotion of the exchange of experience, skilled and unskilled and, in this regard, the unification of social policy measures for citizens of both states. These activities were supposed to lead from the stage of economic cooperation to the stage of close economic union .22
In terms of its organizational structure, the SES was to a certain extent a prototype of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance. In his

19 Foreign trade of the countries of popular democracy, Moscow, 1961, pp. 93, 263.

20 Ibid., p. 218.

21 Poliyenko A.M. Uk. soch., p. 12.

22 Bulletin of the Moscow branch of PAP, 1948, No. 13, p. 4.

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the composition of the commission was established: on industry, trade turnover, capital investments, transport and communications, financial, agricultural, scientific and technical, planning and statistics. At the second session of the SES (Warsaw, August 4-6, 1948), " The Council recognized the need to coordinate long-term economic plans, production programs and program investments... Work will also be initiated, "the communique of the session said," to harmonize the methodology of planning, reporting and statistics. " 23 Separate activities of the SES program were subsequently implemented by both countries on a bilateral basis, and some of these activities were further developed in the activities of the COMECON bodies.

On May 13, 1948, the Hungarian-Polish Convention on Economic Cooperation was concluded. Poland was interested in the supply of goods from Hungary for the development of industry, in the purchase of aluminum, technical fats, petroleum products and pharmaceutical products. Hungary needed to get from Poland primarily coke, zinc, coal, as well as raw materials and semi-finished products for the chemical industry. On the basis of the convention, a permanent Hungarian-Polish commission for economic cooperation was established, within the framework of which agreements were reached on the exchange of inventions and patents, on the unification of planning methods and statistical reporting, the use of Polish ports for the transit of Hungarian foreign trade cargo, and other areas of cooperation .24
The process of establishing a mechanism for coordinating the economic policies of Central and South-Eastern European countries and developing a collective concept in the field of industrial, scientific and technical cooperation was fraught with significant objective and subjective difficulties. The communist and workers ' parties of the countries of popular democracy had to overcome in some cases the interethnic and interstate antagonism inherited from capitalism and burdened by the last war. In the first post-war years, territorial issues were still not fully resolved, only the volumes and range of reparations supplies were agreed upon. Great resistance to the establishment of new economic ties in individual countries was exerted by those parts of the state apparatus that were not completely cleared of supporters of the capitalist path of development, who sabotaged the activities of the people's government. The purely commercial approach to the formation of national economic structures and mutual relations, both on the part of economically more developed countries and on the part of less developed ones, has not been overcome either.

Therefore, in 1945-1948, a comprehensive concept of economic cooperation could not be developed, and a new type of international economic relations was still in the process of being born. It is characteristic, however, that even in those years, scientific and practical thought in the countries that soon formed the COMECON focused on such problems as the regularity of mutual economic relations, regulation of the proportions of social reproduction on the scale of the Commonwealth of countries, and multilateral coordination of goals and main directions of economic development .25
23 Ibid., No. 32, pp. 5-6.

24 Ibid., No. 21, p. 2; 1949, No. 9, p. 4.

25 See, in particular: Varga E. Changes in the economy of capitalism as a result of the Second World War. Moscow, 1946; Leontiev A. Economic foundations of popular democracy. - Planovoe khozyaistvo, 1947, N 4; Mateev M. Problemy ekonomicheskoi nezavisimosti [Problems of economic independence]. Novo vremya, Sofia, 1947, No. 10; Farberov N. Novye mochy v razvitii narodnoi demokratii [New Moments in the Development of People's Democracy]. - Sovetskoe gosudarstvo i pravo, 1948, N 1; Karra V. Druzhba i sotrudnichestvo stran narodnoi demokratii [Friendship and Cooperation in the countries of popular democracy]. - Novoe vremya, 1948, N 51.

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The formation of economic cooperation between the USSR and the countries of popular democracy, the experience gained in this process and the development of economic thought objectively prepared the creation of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance. The emergence of an economic union between them was due to the need for internationalization of the economy on a new, socialist basis. In this sense, the formation of COMECON reflected the objective laws of the development of socialism as a world system, which is based on such an important principle of the policy of the ruling Marxist-Leninist parties as proletarian and socialist internationalism. The COMECON, as the first collective organization of socialist countries in history, was designed to promote the establishment and development of a new type of international economic relations, to create a material foundation for both the flourishing of sovereign socialist nations and their gradual rapprochement.

The creation of COMECON in 1949 was promoted not only by objective regularities, but also by the concrete historical situation, the degree of maturity of objective and subjective conditions. By 1949, socialist revolutions had been completed in all the COMECON founding countries, socialism had mastered commanding heights in the economy, a system of centralized national economic planning had been established, and the transition to drawing up long-term national economic plans had begun. By 1949, some experience had been accumulated in establishing foreign trade relations between the COMECON founding countries at the centralized state level. There are also certain subjective prerequisites for deepening mutual economic ties, and there is a desire for mutual economic cooperation. Its necessity and usefulness were understood not only by the ruling Communist and workers ' parties, but also by the broad masses of working people, who were convinced by their own experience of the internationalist approach of the Soviet Union to developing relations with people's democratic States. The sharp complication of the international situation, the" cold war " unleashed by imperialism, primarily American, was also essential. In attacking the emerging commonwealth of socialist states, he used economic boycotts, the dictates of the Marshall Plan, and atomic blackmail. These circumstances required both military-political and accelerated economic consolidation of the young socialist world.

On January 5-8, 1949, an Economic Meeting of representatives of Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, the USSR and Czechoslovakia was held in Moscow. The Meeting discussed the possibility of broader economic cooperation and recognized the need to create a special organization for this purpose - the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance .26 At the first session of the Council, held on April 26-30, 1949 in Moscow, the main directions of its activities were determined, and a permanent Bureau was established. The Council is composed of one representative from each country27 . A small technical staff headed by a secretary was also established to serve the Council.

One of the main tasks of the COMECON was initially to organize closer economic ties between its member countries. The second important task of the Council was to organize scientific and technical cooperation based on mutual technical assistance. The second session of the COMECON, held in Sofia on August 26-27, 1949, was largely devoted to this issue. This session included

26 Albania was admitted to the COMECON in February 1949, and the GDR in October 1950.

27 Loshchakov A. 35 years of COMECON: results and modernity. - Economic cooperation of COMECON member Countries, 1984, N 5, p. 34.

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principles of scientific and technical cooperation and exchange of technical experience between the two countries have been developed. The principles of this cooperation are still largely valid today. According to them, the exchange of scientific and technical documentation between COMECON countries is carried out free of charge, with payment only for the costs of manufacturing and delivering copies of technical documentation. The session also considered issues related to the development of foreign trade and the expansion of the production base for the production of rolling bearings 28 .

The later widespread interpretation of the first stage of COMECON activity (before 1954 )as mainly related to foreign trade is not sufficiently accurate. 29 Indeed, the second and third sessions of the Council (November 1950, Moscow) considered these issues and recommended that the participating countries conclude long - term trade agreements along with annual ones. However, these recommendations only served to reinforce the ongoing process of concluding such agreements. Coordination of mutual deliveries of goods continued to be carried out on a bilateral basis by national planning authorities and ministries of foreign trade, and the lack of a multilateral clearing settlement system limited the effectiveness of coordinating foreign trade relations. 30 In practice, the COMECON bodies in the initial period were concerned not so much with the expansion of foreign trade, but with the conditions for mutual deliveries of products that go beyond the concept of trade and fall under the concept of assistance. This was of great importance for the countries that began to industrialize their economy and experienced a shortage of many types of material resources, while at the same time there was a lack of financial resources. The mutual obligations of the countries within the Council served as a guarantee for the implementation of more intense economic plans. It is no accident that the long-term national economic plans of most countries of popular democracy, developed in 1948-1949, were revised upwards in 1950-195131 .

In the mid-1950s, the COMECON member countries completed their first long-term economic development plans. In the course of their implementation, high rates of economic growth were ensured, on the basis of which industrialization was rapidly progressing, 32 and deep socio-economic transformations were carried out. At the same time, the economic development of a number of European socialist countries at that time showed that their national economic plans were still being developed without proper mutual coordination and coordination with the economic development plans of other socialist countries. As a result, the advantages that were created after the COMECON was formed and the opportunities for multilateral cooperation were not sufficiently used. In some countries, there was an economically unjustified construction of a number of enterprises without taking into account the existing capabilities and needs of other countries. Some industries developed in isolation from the actual conditions for providing raw materials and personnel. In mechanical engineering, there was parallelism in the development of production capacities, while the development of chemical and non-chemical industries lagged behind.-

28 Chronicle of The Council Of Economic Mutual Assistance, Moscow, 1979, p. 7.

29 See, for example: Kishsh T. Ekonomicheskoe sotrudnichestvo sotsialisticheskikh stran [Economic cooperation of Socialist countries], Moscow, 1963, p. 86; Loshchakov A. Uk. soch.

30 The agreement on the application of multilateral clearing settlements in Mutual Trade of COMECON countries was signed only in June 1957 at the VIII session of the Council (Belichenko A. N., Matyukhin G. G. Credit relations between COMECON member countries, Moscow 1983, p. 16).

31. Feromov M. Forms and methods of economic cooperation between the USSR and the countries of people's democracy. - Voprosy ekonomiki, 1950, N 12, p. 37.

32 Pomazanov S. I. The USSR and the creation of heavy industry in the countries of the Socialist Commonwealth. Voprosy istorii, 1979, No. 3.

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some other industries. Opportunities for cooperation to boost agriculture and increase the production of consumer goods were also not used. All this required closer coordination of the COMECON member countries ' economic development plans and practical solution of the main task - development of cooperation in the field of production.

In 1954-1955. The COMECON adopted decisions on measures to develop closer economic ties between the fraternal countries on the basis of coordinating national economic plans, taking advantage of multilateral cooperation, expanding the international socialist division of labor, and improving the activities of the Council's bodies. Decisions of the COMECON sessions IV (March 1954, Moscow), V (June 1954, Moscow) and VI (December 1955, Budapest) recognized the need to coordinate capital construction plans, ensure faster growth in the production of raw materials and materials, strengthen mutual assistance in expanding the raw material base, and develop mechanical engineering taking into account international trade. specializations of production. Coordination of the COMECON member countries ' development plans for 1956-1960 was their first joint effort to coordinate national economic plans. Further steps in this direction were taken in drawing up plans for subsequent five-year periods up to 1975.

Coordination of national economic plans allowed the COMECON member countries to solve many of the most important national economic problems that would not have been possible for one country. Thus, with the participation of the GDR, GDR and Czechoslovakia, the largest copper deposit in Poland was developed; with the participation of the GDR, Poland and Czechoslovakia, a pulp mill was built in Romania; with the participation of most COMECON member countries, the Kingisepp phosphorite mine was built in the USSR; with the cooperation of five countries-the GDR, GDR, Poland, USSR and Czechoslovakia, construction was carried out the main Druzhba oil pipeline; the USSR and other COMECON member countries formed a Single Mir Energy system on the basis of their national energy systems. In order to further expand the opportunities for foreign trade exchange between COMECON member countries on the basis of multilateral settlements, the International Bank for Economic Cooperation was established. Numerous industry-specific international economic and production organizations have emerged in industry and transport. The division of labor in manufacturing industries has become more profound. They went from the initial establishment of specialization of production on finished products in the 50s to the conclusion of numerous cooperative agreements providing for the joint production of final products from components manufactured in different countries. Overcoming the tendencies towards economic autarky by deepening the international socialist division of labor contributed to an increase in the efficiency of social production in the COMECON member countries.

The COMECON member countries have significantly strengthened their positions in the global economy. From 1950 to 1960 they have more than tripled their industrial output, and in terms of a number of major products (electricity, steel, etc.) they are very close to the indicators of the "Common Market" states, which they lagged significantly behind in the pre-war period. Building up the economic potential of the socialist commonwealth was accompanied by a steady increase in its authority in the international arena. In 1962, Mongolia became a member of COMECON, since 1964, Yugoslavia has been taking an increasingly active part in the work of COMECON bodies, and in 1972, Cuba joined the COMECON.,

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1978-Vietnam 33 . COMECON received permanent observer status at the UN. COMECON has signed cooperation agreements with Finland, Iraq, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Other States are also showing great interest in various forms of cooperation with COMECON.

The fundamental features of the new relations between the socialist countries are reflected in the fundamental documents on which the COMECON's activities are based - its Charter, the Basic Principles of the International Socialist Division of Labor, and the Comprehensive Program for Further Deepening and Improving Cooperation and Developing Socialist Economic Integration of the COMECON member Countries. These documents further develop the norms of relations that began to form in the commonwealth in the first post-war years. The main principle adopted in 1959 is: The COMECON Charter 34 , which reflects the nature of the organization , is the principle of full equality, respect for national sovereignty, mutual benefit and comradely mutual assistance. Thus, the Charter legally established the relations of the fraternal countries that have already developed on this basis. The Organization is open and accessible to all countries that share the COMECON principles and agree to undertake the obligations contained in its Charter .35 COMECON countries enjoy the same rights regardless of the size of the territory and population, the level of economic development, and the amount of shared contributions. Each country has one vote in any COMECON body. All COMECON decisions and recommendations are made on the basis of the principle of unanimity of the participating countries.

In accordance with the COMECON Charter, the tasks of the COMECON are: organization of comprehensive economic, scientific and technical cooperation of the member countries in the direction of the most rational use of their natural resources and acceleration of the development of productive forces; promotion of the improvement of the international socialist division of labor by coordinating plans for the development of the national economy, specialization and cooperation of scientific and technical problems of interest to the member countries; assistance to the member countries in developing and implementing joint measures in the field of: industrial, agricultural, and transport development, with a view to ensuring the priority of increasing export-import and transit cargo flows of the member countries, making the most effective use of the main capital investments allocated by the member countries for development mining and processing industries, as well as the construction of major facilities of interest to two or more countries; development of trade and exchange of services of member countries among themselves and with other countries; exchange of scientific and technical achievements and advanced production experience.

The adoption of the law in 1962 was important. Economic conference at the highest level of the Basic Principles of the International Socialist Division of Labor. This document covered a complex of theoretical and practical issues of economic cooperation, thus summarizing the accumulated experience of cooperation, systematizing ideas about promising areas for further convergence of the economy and development levels of the socialist countries. Based on the provisions of this document, a number of methods were developed in the 1960s.-

33 Since 1962, Albania has practically ceased to participate in the CMEA.

34 Chronicle of the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance, p. 10.

35 The COMECON Charter was amended at the XVI session (June 1962, Moscow) in connection with the expansion of the geographical scope of membership beyond Europe and at the XXVIII session (June 1974, Moscow) in connection with the adoption of a Comprehensive Program and organizational restructuring of the COMECON bodies.

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These documents and materials are of great practical importance for regulating the economic relations of fraternal countries. This included the introduction of effective measures to improve work in the field of specialization and cooperation of production, the development of proposals for standardization, typification and unification of the most important types of machines, components and parts produced on the basis of the international division of labor, determining the effectiveness of cooperation when combining efforts in solving the fuel and raw materials problem, and many other issues.

In the process of long-term development and strengthening of the planned foundations of multilateral and bilateral cooperation, with the growth of the economic potential of the socialist countries and the ever-closer convergence of their levels of economic development, the economic, political and organizational prerequisites for the transition of this cooperation to a qualitatively new level that meets the degree of maturity of relations reached by the countries and the requirements of scientific and technological progress were gradually accumulated.

In April 1969, at the XXIII (special) session of the COMECON in Moscow, the leaders of the Communist and workers ' parties and the heads of Government of the COMECON member countries determined the main directions for further improvement of economic, scientific and technical cooperation on a qualitatively new and higher basis - by deepening socialist economic integration. The session decided to develop a comprehensive, long-term program for the socialist economic integration of the fraternal countries. At the same time, the decision emphasized that such integration should be carried out on the basis of State sovereignty, independence and full voluntariness of the participating countries, it should not be accompanied by the creation of supranational bodies or affect the internal competence of the participating countries in planning, financial and self - supporting activities.

Unlike the Basic Principles, which considered the cooperation of fraternal countries still to a certain extent static, when developing the integration program, the question of a comprehensive and interrelated approach to all problems of economic relations between the states of the socialist community, as well as the successive stages of solving these problems, was put at the forefront, indicating in most cases specific deadlines for their solution. The Comprehensive Program for Further Deepening and Improving Cooperation and Developing the Socialist Economic Integration of the COMECON member countries, adopted by the COMECON XXV session in 1971, was a historic milestone in the development of the socialist community. Its adoption was an important economic and political outcome of a quarter-century of development of a new type of international relations. Designed to be implemented step - by-step over a period of 15-20 years, the Comprehensive Program has opened up new prospects for the commonwealth of fraternal states, aiming them to unite forces and resources even more closely to solve common economic problems and tasks of cooperation in certain sectors of the national economy.

"Starting with cooperation in the field of foreign trade, with mutual supplies of raw materials, food, machinery and equipment, exchange of experience and scientific and technical achievements," the resolution of the XXVIII anniversary session of the COMECON noted, " the COMECON member countries have gradually moved to deeper cooperation in the economy, science and technology, and stable ties in the field of energy, energy, and energy. material production. The Council

36 Osnovnye dokumenty Soveta Ekonomicheskoi Vzaimopomoshchi [Basic Documents of the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance], Vol. 1, Moscow, 1981, pp. 31-124.

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It became the main organization of multilateral economic cooperation of the COMECON member countries. The fraternal cooperation of the COMECON member countries has made a significant contribution to the implementation of the policy of the Communist and workers 'parties aimed at bringing them closer together and working closely together in the construction of socialism and communism"37 . Thus, the correctness of the line adopted by the Communist and workers ' parties at the dawn of the formation of a new type of international economic relations - the line of close economic and political union-has found its historical confirmation.

The implementation of this line has shown itself in practice in equalizing the levels of economic development of the fraternal countries. If at the beginning of the COMECON's existence (1950) the ratio between the highest and lowest average per capita national income in the European COMECON member countries was approximately 3.2:1, then at the end of the 70s it was about 1.3:138 .

In the process of implementing the Comprehensive Program, major projects of industrial and scientific and technical cooperation were implemented with the active assistance of all COMECON bodies, and a lot of work was done to implement multilateral agreements on specialization and cooperation in production, on cooperation in the development of a number of important sectors of the economy of the COMECON member countries. The scale of this work is shown, for example, by the fact that during the coordination of plans for the current five-year plan, about 150 agreements were signed on the specialization and cooperation of production and the construction of joint economic facilities .39 Success in implementing the Comprehensive Program has made it possible to deepen economic cooperation between the socialist states and effectively solve major national economic problems through joint efforts.

A further important step in the development of cooperation between the fraternal countries was the development of long-term targeted cooperation programs for the COMECON member countries. Their task is to meet together the needs of these countries for energy, fuel and basic raw materials, raise the level of mechanical engineering, meet the demand for food and industrial consumer goods more fully, and accelerate the development of transport. In the Statement of the heads of delegations of the COMECON member countries at the XXXII session of the Council (1978), it was noted that long-term targeted cooperation programs determine a coordinated strategy for cooperation between the fraternal countries in the relevant areas of material production and are a concrete development of the Integrated Program 40 . COMECON member countries almost doubled their industrial output in 1984 compared to 1970. The turnover of their trade increased almost 5 times over the same years 41 . All this has provided additional opportunities for solving major social problems and ensuring stable growth of people's welfare.

Even at the XXVI Congress of the CPSU, it was proposed to collectively discuss new problems in the development of economic integration. This initiative was unanimously supported by other fraternal parties of the COMECON member countries. It was necessary to assess and comprehend the course of the integration process over the past decade and a half and determine the basis for the collective strategy of cooperation of the COMECON member countries for the next decade and a half up to 2000. While maintaining its fundamental importance as a Comprehensive Program, it is necessary to-

37 Pravda, 20. VI. 1974.

38 Commonwealth of COMECON Member Countries, Moscow, 1980, p. 25.

39 Tikhonov N. A. The basis for strengthening the Commonwealth of COMECON countries. - Kommunist, 1984, N 10, p. 6.

40 See Economic Cooperation of COMECON Member Countries, 1978, No. 4, p. 52.

41 Tikhonov N. A. Uk. soch., pp. 4-5.

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new generalizations and additional political decisions of a fundamental nature were made, taking into account the changing situation both in the socialist community and in the world as a whole.

These tasks were discussed at the High - level Economic Meeting of the COMECON member Countries held in Moscow on June 12-14, 1984. In the course of multilateral and bilateral consultations and friendly discussions, the assessments and proposals of individual fraternal parties of the COMECON member countries were weighed, and a coordinated concept for the further development of their economic cooperation was developed collectively. The result of this extensive creative work is the published documents: a Statement on the main directions for further development and deepening of economic, scientific and technical cooperation of the COMECON member countries and the Declaration of the COMECON member Countries "Preserving Peace and International Economic cooperation" 42 .

The meeting specifically defined the range of tasks of the Commonwealth until the end of this century. The main emphasis is placed on the development and improvement of material production. To do this, it is necessary to accelerate the transition of the economy to an intensive path, increase the efficiency of using the huge resources available to the fraternal countries, and improve the quality of products. The international task is to accelerate the process of gradual equalization of economic development, and first of all, to bring the economies of Vietnam, Cuba, and Mongolia to the level of their European COMECON partners. The meeting expressed a common intention to continue to assist these countries in accelerating industrialization, and to help improve the effectiveness of their participation in the international socialist division of labor.

The international situation, which has become complicated due to aggressive imperialist forces, forces the COMECON member countries to take care of strengthening the defense capability of their commonwealth, ensuring its economic strength and invulnerability in the face of any economic pressure: embargoes, boycotts, trade, credit and technological blockades. The solution of this range of tasks requires attracting all the reserves of cooperation, including strengthening cooperation in the development and implementation of economic policy. It is quite understandable, therefore, that the meeting decided to take a new step forward in coordinating the COMECON countries ' economic policies. At the forefront are the tasks of accelerating scientific and technological progress in every possible way, and introducing its achievements into production as quickly as possible. The combined potential of the COMECON member countries allows them to solve problems of any complexity in all the main areas of scientific and technological development that have now been defined, whether it is electronics or biotechnology, nuclear energy or the creation of fundamentally new materials and technologies for their processing, robotization of production and the creation of flexible automated production systems on this basis. COMECON bodies pay special attention to these priority areas.

The meeting outlined a long-term strategy for a coordinated solution to the raw materials and fuel and energy problems. In line with global trends, a decisive course has been taken towards resource conservation, progressive changes in the structure of energy production and consumption, and the predominant development of nuclear energy. At the same time, a distinctive feature of the COMECON countries ' energy policy is the principle of self-sufficiency within the commonwealth. In accordance with this, the complementarity of the national economic complexes of the USSR and other COMECON member countries will increase. Economic conditions will be created to ensure the supply of certain types of raw materials and energy carriers from the Soviet Union. For this purpose, they are expanding

42 Pravda, 16. VI. 1984.

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counter-deliveries to the USSR of the products it needs, including food and industrial consumer goods, high-quality materials and machinery.

COMECON member countries have a strong machine-building potential. An agreement was reached to make significant progress in deepening the specialization and cooperation of production in the mechanical engineering sectors. The organizing principle for the development of deep forms of division of labor should be a comprehensive program of scientific and technological progress for a 15-to 20-year period, developed into a system of broad agreements on industrial and technical cooperation in the most advanced areas of production. It will not only affect new industries, but will also have a significant impact on deepening the division of labor in traditional areas: shipbuilding, the automotive industry, and power engineering. In order to quickly reach the optimal level of industrial cooperation, the COMECON member countries intend to make greater use of direct links between enterprises. For the same purposes, it is planned to improve the activities of COMECON bodies, and the main criterion for this will be the adoption by interested countries of firm agreements on industrial, scientific and technical cooperation in priority areas.

At the XXXIX session of COMECON held in October 1984, which met for the first time in the Americas, in Havana, practical actions already begun to implement the guidelines of the 1984 Economic Meeting were discussed. Specific agreements were reached on the coordination of national economic plans for the next five-year period, long-term comprehensive measures for cooperation in the field of fuel, raw materials and energy for the period up to 1990 and beyond. 43 The Meeting of Secretaries of the Central Committee of the Fraternal Parties of the COMECON member Countries on Economic Issues (Moscow, May 1985), having reviewed the results of the implementation of the decisions of the Economic Summit Meeting over the past year, expressed the unanimous opinion that the consistent implementation of these decisions is an important factor in the further progressive development of the countries of the socialist community, .

The peoples of the COMECON member countries are preparing to hold regular congresses of their communist and workers ' parties. Work has been launched to accelerate social and economic development, increase the labor and political activity of workers, and improve all aspects of the life of a socialist society. And, as the entire history of the formation, formation and deepening of socialist international economic relations confirms, the impact of cooperation and integration on the effective solution of current and strategic development tasks in each of the fraternal countries, taking into account the common interests of the world socialist community, is increasing from stage to stage.

43 Ibid., 2. XI. 1984.

44 Ibid., 22. V. 1985.

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