home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
TIME: Almanac 1990
/
1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
/
time
/
050189
/
05018900.018
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1990-09-17
|
1KB
|
23 lines
WORLD, Page 51World NotesSOVIET UNIONToothpaste And Tapes
Long a source of grim jokes and bitter complaints by the Soviet
public, the chronic shortage of many consumer goods has only
worsened under perestroika. Nonetheless, the Kremlin has been
reluctant to dip into its hard-currency reserves (around $40
billion, according to Western estimates) to buy consumer goods from
the West. But faced with rising discontent, Deputy Minister of
Trade Suren Sarukhanov announced last week that the Soviet Union
has signed contracts with companies from ten foreign countries to
supply products with a retail value of some $2 billion in the hopes
of at least temporarily quelling demand. Among the items: 12
million pairs of women's boots, 300 million razor blades, 30
million pairs of panty hose, 10 million cassette tapes, 180,000
tons of soap powder and 10,000 tons of toothpaste.
Even the Soviet air force is getting into the act. Last week
TASS reported that 60 military planes have been commissioned to
speed produce from the southern farm belt to major cities. Said
Colonel General Vyacheslav Yefanov, chief of Military Transport
Aviation: "Combat readiness will by no means be reduced." But the
long lines at the grocery store may be.