First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union First Deputy Premier from 1935 to 1941 because no one was elected to the post. Molotov, one of two First Deputy Premiers under Stalin's tenure, nearly lost his position when Stalin, the Premier, took a vacation; Molotov, in his capacity as First Deputy Premier, committed what Stalin saw as grave policy violations. Stalin's successor, Malenkov, promoted Bulganin, Beria and Lazar Kaganovich to the post of First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers. In a Council of Minister resolution it was stated that the Premier, the First Deputy Premiers and the Deputy Premiers made up the Presidium of the Council
Premier of the Soviet Union USSR. However, Kosygin's prestige was weakened when he proposed the economic reform of 1965. Under the 1977 Soviet Constitution, the Premier of the Council of Ministers was the head of government of the USSR. The Premier was the chief of the executive branch and head of the Soviet government as a whole, the premiership was the most powerful governmental office in the USSR by influence and recognition until the establishment of the presidency during 1990. The Premier was responsible and accountable to the Supreme Soviet and during the period between sessions of the Supreme Soviet he was also accountable to