Following Boris Yeltsin’s decree known as “On Free Trade,” a sudden flood of foreign goods began to enter the country. Along with imported goods, mostly consumer goods such as clothing, fabrics, shoes, cosmetics, perfumes, appliances, and home electronics, came a wave of new entrepreneurs. Some of the “pioneers” in this area were people who risked going out to buy goods on their own, alone, and returned with full checkered bags. Soon, such entrepreneurs were called “shuttle traders.”
However, progress did not stand still, and soon travel agencies joined the business, offering special tours that included not only the delivery of goods, but also accommodation, meals and customs clearance. Special cargo carriers began to play an important role in this process, facilitating the delivery of goods and reducing the costs of traders. This led to the fact that if at first only a few dozen kilograms of goods were delivered to Russia, then by the mid-1990s the weight of deliveries could reach hundreds of kilograms.
Sales were carried out mainly at large clothing markets, where both the “shuttle traders” themselves and their hired workers acted as sellers. The shuttle traders, acting as managers, controlled the entire procedure of purchasing and delivering goods. A very interesting fact is that people of various professions came across attempts to earn money in the shuttle business, which gave this sphere a special flavor.
A huge part of the country’s imports was shuttle trade. For example, in 1995-1996, up to one third of all Russian imports were delivered by shuttle trade from abroad. According to some estimates, about 10 million people were engaged in the business.