GOSPLAN

abbreviation of Gosudarstvennyy Planovyy Komitet, English State Planning Committee central board that supervised various aspects of the planned economy of the Soviet Union by translating into specific national plans the general economic objectives outlined by the Communist Party and the government. Established in February 1921, Gosplan was originally an advisory council to the government, its functions limited to influencing the level and direction of state investments. It assumed a more comprehensive planning role in 1928, when the First Five-Year Plan, which called for rapid industrialization and a drastic reduction of the private sector of the economy, was adopted. Gosplan's role in the Soviet economy changed frequently to suit a variety of economic reorganizations; after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 the future of Gosplan was uncertain.