The former Soviet Union was the world's second largest producer of harmful emissions. Total emissions in the USSR in 1988 were about 79% of the US total. Considering that the Soviet GNP was only some 54% of that of the USA, this means that the Soviet Union generated 1.5 times more pollution than the USA per unit of GNP. The governmental concerns about the size of USSR emissions were barely noticeable before the late 1980s; in the early 1990s the air pollution became an issue of great public attention — its economic priority, however, was changing slowly. This paper analyses the changes in fuel consumption by the Soviet industry during the last decade and makes available sets of data on air pollution in the former Soviet Union between 1980 and 1991. The temporal and spatial changes in emissions and ambient concentration of four major pollutants (suspended particles, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide) are examined, and contributions of different branches of industry and transport are considered. The information was obtained from the State Committee on Hydrometeorology and Environment (Moscow). Summary data are presented in the main paper; full details are given in the accompanying appendix.