Comturist was the name of the

hard currency In macroeconomics, hard currency, safe-haven currency, or strong currency is any globally traded currency that serves as a reliable and stable store of value. Factors contributing to a currency's ''hard'' status might include the stability and ...

luxury shops that existed in

Communist Romania The Socialist Republic of Romania ( ro, Republica Socialistă România, RSR) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist One-party state, one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989. From 1947 to 1965, the s ...

, managed by the

Ministry of Tourism The Minister of Tourism is the head of the governmental department that specializes in tourism, recreation and/or culture. The position exists in many different countries under several names: *Ministry of Tourism and Environment (Albania) * Minist ...

.Eastern Europe - Economic Affairs - 1984 U.S. military report
/ref> After the 1989 Romanian revolution, these stores became obsolete and were sold off in 1991 to private business owners; as a result of this sale by auction, the ''Comturist'' name is still in existence today in a more limited capacity as a chain of

duty-free stores A duty-free shop (or store) is a retail outlet whose goods are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods sold will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, who ...

.Romanian Stores Go to Highest Bidder - Los Angeles Times
/ref> About 200 Comturist stores were in existence in Romania by 1977, mainly in the largest cities and tourist areas.Hard Currency Shops in Eastern Europe - Radio Free Europe - October 27, 1977
The Comturist stores existed explicitly to offer items that were not allowed to be sold in the then mainstream Romanian socialist economy. Imports from western Europe, North America, and Japan were sold in these shops, such as alcohol, tobacco, perfume, shoes, clothing, radios, televisions, calculators, and by the 1980s, personal computers. High-quality Romanian souvenirs were also sold, such as sheepskin, handicrafts, folk costumes, and folk music records.Bonn Rheinischer-Merkur - January 1, 1988
/ref> Originally the Comturist stores were geared toward foreign visitors, with a passport being required to visit them, but by the 1980s the requirement changed to allow any shopper who held foreign currency (which had to be declared and could only be procured via work done in the West or by remittances from foreign relatives).Communism Unwrapped: Consumption in Cold War Eastern Europe, page 35
/ref> Comturist SA, a private entity owned by former Communist elites-turned-capitalist entrepreneurs, was formed in September 1990 and bought off some of the remnants of the old Comturist chain in the March 1991 auctions.
/ref> Comturist started trading on the

Bucharest Stock Exchange The Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) ( Romanian: ''Bursa de Valori București'') is the stock exchange of Romania located in Bucharest. In 2019, the capitalization of BVB increased 23.4% compared to the previous year, to the value of EUR 37.8 billi ...

in 2004.

References

{{Hard currency shops in socialist countries Hard currency shops in socialist countries Socialist Republic of Romania Duty-free shops Retail companies of Romania

See also

References