SOVIET ECONOMY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 February 1939, Page 3

SOVIET ECONOMY

DETAILS OF THIRD FIVE YEAR PUN

HOPES OF SURPASSING CAPITALISM. LOWERING PRODUCTION COSTS. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. MOSCOW, January 30. A third Five Year Plan was begun in 1937, details of which are released for the first time. The demands of national production will reach 7,200 millions sterling in 1942, which represents an increase of eighty-eight per cent over 1937. The aim of the plan is “to catch up and surpass economically the most advanced capitalist countries.”

• It is declared that the main object of the second Five Year Plan has been achieved —namely the technical reconstruction of the nation’s economy. Russia is industrially second only to the United States, producing in 1937 eighty per cent of the required equipment. Capital investment under the present plan will absorb 4,480 millions sterling. The production of consumers’ goods totalled 2,720 millions. It is hoped to reduce the cost of production by eleven per cent, double the volume of consumers’ goods and raise workers to the cultural and economic level of engineers. . The plan embodies special efforts to increase Russia’s ability to carry on a prolonged war. Tens of thousands of small factories are being built to replace mass-production method, and local food and raw material resources are being developed to the utmost. An oil base is being prepared between the Ural mountains and the Volga, where it is less vulnerable to attack than at Baku. Oil and coal resources are also to be ensured for the Far Eastern Army. Thousands of miles of railway are being built and 5000 miles of existing lines are being double-tracked.

In addition, 130,000 miles of road will be built or reconstructed by 1942. Warehouse accommodation is being provided for 10,000,000 tons of food.