Nikolai Ryzhkov

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Nikolai Ryzhkov : biography

28 September 1929 –

Ryzhkov’s Plan and The 500 Days Programme were broadly similar, with both supporting price liberalisation, decentralisation and privatisation. The main difference between the two was Ryzhkov’s desire to retain much of the social security system, free education for all and the continuance of a strong central government apparatus. The 500 Days Programme did not mention political union with the other Soviet republics, but instead weakened the authority of the central government by establishing a market economy. In other words, they left the question of continuing or dissolving the Soviet Union open. On 17 September in a meeting of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev openly supported the 500 Days Programme, claiming it would not lead to the reestablishment of capitalism, but instead to a mixed economy where private enterprise played an important role.

In December 1990 Ryzhkov suffered a heart attack. During his recovery, the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union dissolved the Council of Ministers and replaced it with the Cabinet of Ministers headed by Valentin Pavlov, Ryzhkov’s former Minister of Finance. The law enacting the change was passed on 26 December 1990, but the new structure was not implemented until 14 January 1991 when Pavlov took over as Prime Minister of the Soviet Union. Between Ryzhkov’s hospitalisation and Pavlov’s election as Prime Minister, Lev Voronin acted as the Chairman of the Council of Ministers. The reorganisation of the government made it subordinate to the Presidency, weakening the head of government’s hold on economic policy. In contrast to Hough’s view that Gorbachev had little reason to remove Ryzhkov, Gordon M. Hahn argues that there were good reasons to replace him given that with Ryzhkov’s Politburo support much reduced, the reformist opposition saw him as a conservative.

RSFSR politics and post-Soviet Russia

After recovering from his heart attack, in early 1991 Ryzhkov stood as the Communist candidate in the first election of the President of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR). At the election on 12 June 1991, he gained 13,395,335 votes, equal to 16.9% of the electorate. Boris Yeltsin beat him decisively with 57%. Ryzhkov’s vice presidential candidate was Boris Gromov, a Soviet war veteran who led the Soviet military during the final stages of the war in Afghanistan. Most of Ryzhkov’s votes came from the countryside, while he had hoped to win over voters who were becoming increasingly disenfranchised as a result of perestroika and Gorbachev’s leadership, even though the latter supported his candidacy.

During the 1995 legislative campaign, Ryzhkov defended his own tenure as Chairman of the Soviet Council of Ministers, claiming that Russians were far worse off under capitalism than Soviet communism. Russian TV channel NTV broadcast a debate featuring only Ryzhkov and Grigory Yavlinsky, a liberal politician who strongly supported economic reforms. At the election, he was elected to the State Duma Federal Assembly as an independent candidate. Once elected, he headed the Power to the People bloc, a communist faction with nationalist tendencies. The Power to the People bloc came about through the merger of Ryzhkov’s supporters and the All-People’s Union headed by Sergey Baburin. Its policies were left-wing and included revival of the Soviet Union, the introduction of a planned economy, more state involvement in the economy and the promotion of nationalism and patriotism. During the 1996 presidential election Ryzhkov endorsed Gennady Zyuganov, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) candidate, for the presidency.

In 1996, Ryzhkov was one of the founders of the CPRF-led alliance of leftists and nationalists known as the People’s Patriotic Union of Russia (PPUR) and was elected chairman of its Duma faction. The PPUR’s formal leaders were Ryzhkov and Ziuganov, who was an unofficial leader. In September 2003, Ryzhkov entered the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation as the representative for Belgorod Oblast, subsequently resigning his seat in the State Duma. He currently serves as Chairman of the Federation Council Commission on Natural Monopolies, as a member of the Committee on Local Self-Governance and as co-chairman of the Russian–Armenian commission on inter-parliamentary cooperation.

Notes

Awards, decorations and orders

Ryzhkov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour twice, in 1966 and 1985, the Order of the October Revolution in 1971, the Order of Lenin in 1976 and 1979 and the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 4th class (27 September 2004 – for outstanding contribution to the strengthening of the Russian state and many years of diligent work). A monument in recognition of his significant personal contribution to the reconstruction in Armenia after the 1988 Spitak earthquake was erected by the Armenian Government. In 2008, the Armenian Government awarded Ryzhkov their highest state decoration, the National Hero of Armenia. The Ukrainian Government awarded him the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 5th class, "for his outstanding contribution to the development of Russian–Ukrainian cooperation and on the occasion of his 75th birthday" on 24 September 2004. The Russian President awarded Ryzhkov the Diploma of the President on 3 October 2009.

Other decorations awarded to Ryzhkov include:

  • Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class (1985)
  • Medal "In Commemoration of the 850th Anniversary of Moscow" (1997)
  • Medal "In Commemoration of the 1000th Anniversary of Kazan" (2005)
  • Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary since the Birth of Vladimir Il’ich Lenin" (1970)
  • Order "Danaker" (Kyrgyzstan)
  • Order of Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow, 2nd class
  • State Prize of the USSR
    • 1969 – for the creation and implementation of complex mechanized welding demonstration in a unique block of welded structures URALMASHZAVOD engineering (with the team)
    • 1979 – for the creation and implementation of high-slab continuous casting machines for steel curved type complexes of high power (with the team)