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Once, my friend Semyon and I were relaxing at the sea. Walking along the embankment, we noticed how a group of foreign citizens were buying almost boxes of Zhigulevskoe beer.
When my friend came out of the stupor into which he was introduced by such a spectacle, he said that during the Soviet Union, foreigners were more selective in alcohol.
What kind of alcohol offered the Soviet Union to foreigners
Semyon and I moved away from a group of citizens speaking a language we did not understand and sat down on a bench near the sea. The friend lit up a cigarette and, looking off into the distance, sank into memories.
“Just remember,” he told me, “A group of tourists will arrive in the Union earlier, they were immediately taken to the shops and bars that our authorities had chosen especially for them. I have worked in this area.”
Naturally, I didn’t remember this, because during the time of the Union, as they say, I wasn’t even in the project.
“Do foreigners need much? With what do they associate even the Union, even Russia? That’s right – Russian vodka, bear, and balalaika. This is what we tried to regale them with. Well, without bears, it’s true, but there was vodka, as they say, at least fill up, ”continued Semyon.
Interesting fact! Visits by foreigners to Soviet stores were strictly controlled by the authorities.
“Those who made it to the Crimea were treated to local wine and other locally produced products, but in our country, they could only hear – let’s try vodka. It seems that they followed her and went to the country. What do they have there in the west, they only produce beer, or something, I don’t understand?
Did the prices for alcohol differ for foreigners and their citizens
I was silent. Although I had to deal with foreigners, it happened far beyond the borders of Russia, and even in times far from the USSR. In my youth I served as a sailor on a training sailing ship.
For some reason, Semyon fell silent, but I, on the contrary, wanted to hear how the citizens of other states behaved on our territory. We were strictly forbidden to smoke in foreign ports.
People in those days did not disdain beer either.
“Sam, did the prices for alcohol go up or down for them?” I asked. A friend, as if waking up from a dream, looked at me in surprise and continued his story.
“Foreigners, as I said, they tried to lead to special shops. Alcohol there cost many times more than in ordinary department stores. Well, they quickly figured out this scheme and tried to get vodka or wine through maids, taxi drivers and others. That was a pun.”
What kind of alcohol did foreigners take with them as a souvenir
Semyon suddenly laughed at the memory. “When these comrades ended their stay in our country, they tried to collect alcohol as a souvenir. Stolichnaya vodka was especially popular.
Wine was brought from the Crimea. Something like “White Red Stone Muscat”, or something like that. Crimean wine, strange as it may seem, was highly valued throughout Europe in those days.
Now such labels can only be seen by collectors.
Well, these citizens were ready to pay any money for Armenian cognacs. I don’t know why they impressed them so much, but foreigners sometimes brought home several boxes. They bought at exorbitant prices, but they bought it!”
Note! Some foreign citizens were engaged in speculation. Having bought alcohol in the USSR, they sold it in their homeland at a price 5-6 times higher than the purchase price.
The choice was truly great.
Was there alcohol that was only exported
“No,” Semyon answered when I asked him this question, “There was no such alcohol. Some wines were supplied abroad, the same Stolichnaya vodka, but in such a way that some alcohol was purely for export, at least I have not heard of this.
However, there were rumors that rum, liqueurs and cognacs were produced especially for some countries. But it seemed to be almost on individual orders. How true that is, I don’t know.”
In general, for a long time Sema and I sat on the seashore and recalled the strange Soviet past.
He spoke beautifully and interestingly, and most importantly, truthfully. The only question that remained after this conversation was about the export of alcohol from the Union. Maybe someone knows something about this?
*Alcohol abuse is dangerous for your health!