Torgsin (
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
: ) were state-run
hard-currency stores that operated in the
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
between 1931 and 1936. Their name was an acronym of ''torgovlia s inostrantsami'' (
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
: '), "trade with foreigners." Unlike the later
Beryozka stores, Torgsin stores were open to all Soviet citizens, provided they had access to hard currency, gold, or jewels. Torgsin was established by the
Sovnarkom
The Councils of People's Commissars (SNK; russian: Совет народных комиссаров (СНК), ''Sovet narodnykh kommissarov''), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (Совнарком), were the highest executive authorities of ...
chairman
Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov. ; (;. 9 March Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O._S._25_February.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O. S. 25 February">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dat ...
's order of 5 July 1931 and disbanded on 1 February 1936.
See also
*
Insnab Insnab (a combination from the Russian "INostranets" (foreigner) and "SNABzheniie" (provision)) was a Soviet state organization responsible for the provision of foreign specialists and workers employed in the Soviet industry with food and commoditie ...
*
Intourist
Intourist (russian: Интурист, a contraction of , "foreign tourist") was a Russian tour operator, headquartered in Moscow. It was founded on April 12, 1929, and served as the primary travel agency for foreign tourists in the Soviet Uni ...
*
Eastern Bloc economies
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
References
External links
"Sklar's Stores," ''Time'', November 9, 1931*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070311102609/http://www.cas.sc.edu/HIST/Faculty/osokina.html Homepage of Prof. Elena Osokina of the University of South Carolina who is writing a book on Torgsins.]
Hard currency shops in socialist countries
Retail companies of the Soviet Union
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