Perestroika and Change in Soviet Weapons ... - The Black Vault

defense coPlex enterprises by rMyon party committees, ministries'
party committees, and the gorhom defense department." 7 Zaikov, who
also had been the Party's defense industry secretary, warned Party
activists that the view embodied in the assertion, "given the division of
functions, this is not the Party's concern," was "a dangerous illuuion."s
It thus appears that the major political, ornizational, and policy
shifts of the past two years are beginning to be reflected at the working
level of Party organizations and that the undisputed attention to
defense is now waning.
If the Supreme Soviet Committee exercises vigorous oversight over
defense matters or the Central Committee defense department is disbanded,
the priority of defense could be drastically reduced and an
organ like the VPK could end up with the same dilute capabilities as
the civilian Machine Building Bureau. The future status of priority
will be signaled by the authority, organizational changes, and cadre
policies at the Central Committee, republic, and oblast levels. If
defense industry departments are disestablished or their personnel
reassigned, then the main method for implementing political priorities
in defense production will have been eliminated.
""Conversion: The View from the Capita," Pmvada, October 24, 1989, p. 4 (FBIS.
SOV-.207, October 27, 1989, p. 96).
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