Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union

The Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) (), (sometimes shortened to "Sovmin" or "Soviet of Ministers") was legally the Soviet government. It was the highest executive and administrative body of the Soviet Union. 
The council could issue declarations and instructions based the laws of the USSR, and all territories and republics within the Union had to follow them. However, the most important state issues were made bye joint declarations with the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), which was "de facto" more powerful than the Council of Ministers.
It was replaced in 1991 by the Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR, which was dissolved only months later when the Soviet Union ceased to exist.