LETTER FROM A. D. TSYURUPA WITH A DRAFT RESOLUTION OF THE VTsIK, AND MEMORANDUM TO THE MEMBERS OF THE POLITICAL BUREAU OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE RCP(b)
28/XI.
Comrade Tsyurupa! My plan has come to fruition:
In addition to the position of Deputy Chairman of the Sovnarkom, Rykov (with a decisive vote in the Sovnarkom), a second Deputy Chairman of the Sovnarkom shall be established on an equal footing. Tsyurupa is to be appointed to this post, relieved of his duties at the People’s Commissariat for Trade.
The powers of these deputies: a decisive vote in both the Sovnarkom and the Sovnarkom; chairing meetings in the absence of the Chairman. All the powers of the Chairman of the Sovnarkom with regard to participation in all collegial bodies and institutions—and among these powers, the right to issue directives that are to be implemented without delay concerning the practical work of the People’s Commissars and their collegial members, etc. (with the prior knowledge of the People’s Commissars of the relevant departments)—on matters pertaining to the coordination and direction of the work of the economic People’s Commissariats.
This, then, is how I envision the official decision of the All‑Central Executive Committee No. 115.
The task is to unite, strengthen, and improve economic work as a whole—especially in close coordination with, and through, the State Bank (trade) and the State Planning Commission.
To personally familiarize myself with the specific characteristics and operations of all the economic People’s Commissariats, as well as with all members of their collegial bodies and with a select group—roughly 10–100—of the most senior officials working at the local and regional levels in this field.
To participate personally in important meetings of the collegial bodies of the relevant People’s Commissariats, the State Planning Commission, the State Bank, the Central Cooperative Union, and the like—and to personally oversee, at the discretion of the Deputy Chairman of the Sovnarkom, the most critical or particularly pressing functions.

As for the duration of these positions, “we shall see”: perhaps three to four years, perhaps thirty years.
One of the objectives is to develop a highly skilled cadre of inspectors and instructors tasked with auditing and reorganizing all economic work across every economic institution, both at the central level and in the regions.
The deputies conduct their work through the existing apparatus of the People’s Commissariats, relying solely on the Office of Administrative Affairs of the Sovnarkom as their own administrative body (4–5 offices of administrative affairs within the Sovnarkom, each staffed with 1–2 assistants and 1–2 secretaries).
The Office of Administrative Affairs of the Sovnarkom, its assistants, and its secretaries together constitute the single, unified administrative apparatus of the entire Sovnarkom—and of both Deputy Chairmen of the Sovnarkom.
Please reply to me no later than WEDNESDAY. Please return this.
With greetings and best wishes, Lenin
To the Members of the Political Bureau: I have received A. D. Tsyurupa’s approval of this preliminary plan and request that all members of the Political Bureau take it up for review. I intend to present it tomorrow, 1.XII, to the Political Bureau.
30.XI.
Lenin
Written on November 28 and 30, 1921.
First published—in incomplete form—in 1933 in Volume XXIII of the Lenin Collection.

Published here in full for the first time, based on the manuscript.