The powers of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union included the following:[1] On October 14, 1964, the Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, which relieved Nikita Khrushchev of his duties as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union, recognized it inappropriate to further combine the highest party post and the post of head of government.

The appointment of deputy ministers of the Soviet Union, deputy chairmen of state committees of the Soviet Union and members of collegiums of ministries and state committees, as well as issues of the country's economic policy and its implementation by central government bodies, were the subject of collegial consideration by members of the government.

The same applied to decisions on the creation, reorganization, abolition, personnel and activities of subordinate bodies of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union, including bodies created to systematically check the implementation of government decisions.

These decisions were not taken by the head of government alone, but by a majority vote of the members of the Council of Ministers or its Presidium.

The list of the chairmen of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union is given in chronological order.