💵 Russia dusts off duty-free shops for diplomats to accrue more foreign currency

To accommodate official foreign visitors and to accumulate more foreign currency, Russia is launching several duty-free shops accessible exclusively to diplomats, employees of embassies, consulates, and international organizations, and their families. According to orders issued by the federal government in late July, several of these stores will open in Moscow and St. Petersburg with prices listed in rubles, U.S. dollars, and euros.

The idea for these stores isn’t new. During the Communist era, the USSR operated two chains of state-run retail stores that sold goods in exchange for foreign currency. Known as “Beriozkas” (little birch trees), the shops sold luxury goods that were often unavailable or unaffordable in traditional Soviet markets.