In the USSR, jeans were a rare and expensive commodity, available only to the wealthy or to those who had friends abroad. In the 1980s, the “denim movement” began, and many Soviet youth sought to buy jeans. Nowadays, jeans are everyday clothing in Russia and other countries, and are produced by many companies.
Black marketeers
In the USSR, speculators (fartsovshchiki) were persecuted by the police as violators of laws and order. Speculation, trade in national goods and services for profit, was classified as antisocial behavior. State control bodies and law enforcement agencies conducted daily operations to neutralize speculators, who were deprived of their goods that were on illegal sale. Speculation was also punishable by up to 5 years of imprisonment in accordance with Article 88 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR.
Money changers
Currency trading in the USSR was only possible at the state level and under the control of state bodies. Individual citizens were prohibited from conducting currency exchange transactions. The USSR had a rigid exchange rate for the ruble against foreign currencies, manipulation of which was punishable by law. Most currency exchange transactions were conducted through banks and financial institutions that operated within the state system and followed strict rules. Thus, currency trading in the USSR was a regulated and controlled activity that did not allow manipulation and speculation.