P.M. BRIEFING : Hungary Gets New Soviet Deal
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MOSCOW — The Soviet Union agreed today that future trade with Hungary will be based on world prices and hard currency, the first pact of its kind with a former East Bloc partner.
Previously, trade with countries in the Warsaw Pact was primarily based on barter within the Soviet-dominated Comecon, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance.
As Eastern European countries began moving toward democracy and market economies, they began demanding a change in trading conditions.
About a month ago, Hungary said it was stopping exports to the Soviet Union because of what it claimed is a $1.3-billion debt, which it insisted be paid in dollars or products like automobiles that can be sold for convertible currency.
Under the agreement announced today by the official Soviet press agency Tass, next year all trade between the two countries will be based on world market prices and hard currency.
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