THE STATE OF INDUSTRY IN THE FERGHANA VALLEY IN THE 1980s: PROBLEMS AND CONTRADICTIONS

Abstract

This article examines the state of industry in the Ferghana Valley during the 1980s, a period marked by the intensification of the systemic crisis in the Soviet economy. The author analyzes the key contradictions and problems arising from the command-administrative system of governance, excessive centralization, sectoral imbalance, and the extensive model of economic development. Special attention is given to the peculiarities of regional development, including monocultural specialization in cotton production, persistent shortages, low labor productivity, and weak innovation activity. Using concrete examples, the article demonstrates the consequences of inefficient economic management, such as resource waste, poor product quality, and economic losses. The study concludes that industrial development in the Ferghana Valley during the late Soviet period was contradictory and unstable, reflecting the broader crisis of the centralized economic model of the USSR.