Corecom () was a chain of hard-currency stores during the communist rule in Bulgaria. Goods were often priced cheaper than in the

West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

; however, they were still inaccessible for most Bulgarians because the national currency, the

lev Lev or LEV may refer to: People and fictional characters *Lev (given name) *Lev (surname) Places *Lev, Azerbaijan, a village *Lev (crater), a tiny lunar crater Religion *an abbreviation for Leviticus, the third book of the Hebrew Bible and the ...

, was not accepted at the stores. Apart from Western diplomats and visitors, access to

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 ...

was a privilege of the

nomenklatura The ''nomenklatura'' (; from , system of names) were a category of people within the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries who held various key administrative positions in the bureaucracy, running all spheres of those countries' activity: ...

(small, elite subset of the general population) and a few other people who were authorised to travel abroad or do business with Westerners. Anyone purchasing goods at Corecom but not authorised to possess foreign currency ran the risk of investigation by the authorities. The stores operated on the same principle as

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

Intershop Intershop was a chain of government-owned and operated retail stores in the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) in which only hard currencies (and later Forum checks) could be used to purchase high-quality goods, usually from or as ...

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

Tuzex Tuzex was a series of state-run shops in Czechoslovakia from 1957 to 1992 which did not accept normal Czechoslovak koruna currency but only vouchers (bony) which could be purchased from banks using foreign currency. They supplied luxury items: ...

, or

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

Pewex Pewex () (short for ''Przedsiębiorstwo Eksportu Wewnętrznego'' – Internal Export Company) was a chain of hard-currency shops founded in 1972, during the Communist era in Poland that accepted payment only in United States dollars and other h ...

stores. In addition to major Western currencies, such as

US dollars The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

, Corecom stores also accepted

foreign exchange certificate A foreign exchange certificate (FEC) is a tool for foreign exchange control in countries where the national currency is subject to exchange controls or is not convertible. The arrangements vary significantly case by case. Common types Some of ...

s. Western consumer goods sold at these stores were not available at regular retail outlets, including imported spirits and tobacco products (e.g. Scotch whisky and

Marlboro Marlboro (, ) is an American brand of cigarettes owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the United States and by Philip Morris International (PMI, now separate from Altria) in most global territories outside the ...

cigarettes), consumer electronics (e.g. VCRs and video cameras), cosmetics, clothing, magazines, toys, and even foodstuffs such as

Kinder Surprise Kinder Surprise (Italian: ''Kinder Sorpresa'' or ''Ovetto Kinder''), also known as Kinder Egg or Kinder Surprise Egg, is a milk chocolate consisting of a chocolate egg surrounding a yellow plastic capsule with a small toy inside. Manufactured by t ...

chocolate eggs (commonly known as "корекомски яйца" or "Corecom eggs" at the time). There were also Bulgarian products that were either destined exclusively for export or ordinarily required signing up on long waiting lists. Ironically, by making the significantly greater diversity and quality of Western consumer goods conspicuous yet inaccessible to the vast majority of the population, the communist party elites inadvertently demonstrated the hypocrisy of their anti-Western rhetoric.Made in Bulgaria: The national as advertising repertoire
by Milla Mineva at

Eurozine ''Eurozine '' is a network of European cultural magazines based in Vienna, linking up more than 90 partner journals and just as many associated magazines and institutions from nearly all European countries. ''Eurozine'' is also an online magazin ...

References

Hard currency shops in socialist countries Companies based in Sofia People's Republic of Bulgaria Defunct retail companies Bulgarian companies established in 1964 {{Bulgaria-stub

See also

References