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First Deputy Premier of the
Soviet Union
Coat of arms of the Soviet Union 1.svg
Kirill Mazurov.jpg
Longest serving
Kirill Mazurov

26 March 1965 – 28 November 1978
Reports to Premier
Formation 14 May 1934
First holder Valerian Kuybyshev
Final holder Vladimir Shcherbakov [ru]
Abolished 26 November 1991
Succession First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia

The first deputy premier of the Soviet Union was the deputy head of government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Despite the title, the office was not always held by a single individual. The office bore three different titles throughout its existence: First Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (1923–1946), First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers (1946–1991), and First Deputy Prime Minister of the Soviet Union (1991). The term "first deputy premier" was used by outside commentators to describe the office of first deputy head of government.

A first deputy premier was responsible for a specific policy area. For example, Kirill Mazurov was responsible for industry, while Dmitry Polyansky was responsible for agriculture in the Soviet Union. In addition, an officeholder would be responsible for coordinating the activities of ministries, state committees, and other bodies subordinated to the government. It was expected that a First Deputy gave these organs guidance in an expeditious manner to ensure the implementation of plans for economic and social development and to check if the orders and decisions of the government were being followed. If the premier could not perform his duties one of the first deputies would take on the role of acting premier until the premier's return. During the late 1970s, when the health of Premier Alexei Kosygin deteriorated, First Deputy Premier Nikolai Tikhonov acted on his behalf as during his absence. Finally, a first deputy was by right a member of the government Presidium, its highest decision-making organ.

Twenty-six individuals held the office of first deputy premier. The first officeholder was Valerian Kuibyshev, who was inaugurated in 1934. Lavrentiy Beria spent the shortest time in office, serving for 113 days. At more than seventeen years, Vyacheslav Molotov spent the longest time in office, and held his position for most of Joseph Stalin's chairmanship, as well as through the chairmanships of Georgy Malenkov and Nikolai Bulganin.

Officeholders

No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Term of office Premier Other offices held while
First Deputy Premier
Ref.
Took office Left office Time in office
1 Валериан Владимирович Куйбышев.jpg Valerian Kuybyshev
(1888–1935)
14 May 1934 25 January 1935 † 256 days Vyacheslav Molotov Chairman of the Soviet People's Control Commission
2 Voznesenskiy NA.jpg Nikolai Voznesensky
(1895–1950)
10 March 1941 15 March 1946 5 years, 5 days Vyacheslav Molotov
Joseph Stalin
Chairman of the State Planning Commission
3 A man in a dark suit, light shirt and dark tie, smiling Vyacheslav Molotov
(1890–1986)
16 August 1942 29 June 1957 11 years, 106 days Joseph Stalin
Georgy Malenkov
Nikolai Bulganin
Minister of Foreign Affairs
4 Bundesarchiv Bild 183-29921-0001, Bulganin, Nikolai Alexandrowitsch (cropped).jpg Nikolai Bulganin
(1895–1975)
7 April 1950 8 February 1955 4 years, 307 days Joseph Stalin
Georgy Malenkov
Minister of Defence
5 Lavrenti-Beria.jpg Lavrentiy Beria
(1899–1953)
5 March 1953 26 June 1953 113 days Georgy Malenkov Minister of Internal Affairs
6 Лазарь Моисеевич Каганович.jpg Lazar Kaganovich
(1893–1991)
5 March 1953 29 June 1957 4 years, 141 days Georgy Malenkov
Nikolai Bulganin
Nikita Khrushchev
Minister of Building Materials Industry
Chairman of the State Committee of the
Council of Ministers for Labour and Wages

7 Анастас Иванович Микоян.jpg Anastas Mikoyan
(1895–1978)
28 February 1955 15 July 1964 9 years, 138 days Nikolai Bulganin
Nikita Khrushchev
Main diplomat to Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis
8 Bundesarchiv Bild 183-77054-0001, Pervukin AdK der UdSSR (detail).jpg Mikhail Pervukhin
(1904–1974)
28 February 1955 5 July 1957 2 years, 127 days Nikolai Bulganin Chairman of the State Economic Commission on Current Economic Planning
9 Maksim Saburov
(1900–1977)
28 February 1955 5 July 1957 2 years, 127 days Nikolai Bulganin Chairman of the State Planning Committee
10 Joseph Kuzmin
(1910–1996)
28 February 1955 5 July 1957 2 years, 127 days Nikolai Bulganin Chairman of the State Planning Committee
11 Frol Kozlov
(1908–1965)
31 March 1958 4 May 1960 2 years, 34 days Nikita Khrushchev Chairman of the State Planning Committee
12 05.11.1966. Kossiguine à Toulouse. (1966) - 53Fi3436 (cropped).jpg Alexei Kosygin
(1904–1980)
4 May 1960 15 October 1964 4 years, 164 days Nikita Khrushchev
13 Dmitry Ustinov (colorized, full).jpg Dmitriy Ustinov
(1908–1984)
13 March 1963 26 March 1965 2 years, 13 days Nikita Khrushchev
Alexei Kosygin
14 Kirill Mazurov.jpg Kirill Mazurov
(1914–1989)
26 March 1965 28 November 1978 13 years, 247 days Alexei Kosygin First Secretary of the Communist Party of Byelorussia
15 Dmitry Polyansky.jpg Dmitry Polyansky
(1917–2001)
2 October 1965 2 February 1973 7 years, 123 days Alexei Kosygin
16 Nikolai Tikhonov.jpg Nikolai Tikhonov
(1905–1997)
2 September 1976 23 October 1980 4 years, 51 days Alexei Kosygin
17 Ivan Arkhipov
(1907–1998)
27 October 1980 4 October 1986 5 years, 342 days Nikolai Tikhonov
Nikolai Ryzhkov
18 A man in a dark suit with a red tie standing in front of the Azerbaijani flag Heydar Aliyev
(1923–2003)
24 November 1982 23 October 1987 4 years, 333 days Nikolai Tikhonov
Nikolai Ryzhkov
First Secretary of the Azerbaijan Communist Party
19 A man in a dark suit, seated, looking to his left Andrei Gromyko
(1909–1989)
24 March 1983 2 July 1985 2 years, 100 days Nikolai Tikhonov Minister of Foreign Affairs
20 Nikolai Talyzin
(1929–1991)
14 October 1985 1 October 1988 2 years, 353 days Nikolai Ryzhkov Chairman of the State Planning Committee
21 Vsevolod Murakhovski
(1926–2017)
1 November 1985 7 June 1989 3 years, 218 days Nikolai Ryzhkov Chairman of the State Committee of the Council of Ministers for Agriculture
22 Yury Maslyukov (duma.gov.ru).jpg Yuri Maslyukov
(1937–2010)
5 February 1988 26 December 1990 2 years, 324 days Nikolai Ryzhkov Chairman of the State Planning Committee
23 Lev Voronin
(1928–2008)
17 July 1989 26 December 1990 1 year, 162 days Nikolai Ryzhkov
24 Vladilen Nikitin
(1936–2021)
27 July 1989 30 August 1990 1 year, 34 days Nikolai Ryzhkov
25 Vladimir Makarovich Velichko.jpg Vladimir Velichko
(born 1937)
15 January 1991 26 November 1991 315 days Valentin Pavlov
Ivan Silayev
Minister of Heavy Machine Building
26 Vitaly Doguzhiyev
(1935–2016)
15 January 1991 26 November 1991 315 days Valentin Pavlov
Ivan Silayev
27 Vladimir Shcherbakov.jpg Vladimir Shcherbakov

(born 1949)

16 May 1991 26 November 1991 194 days Valentin Pavlov
Ivan Silayev

See also

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