Tuzex
Encyclopedia
Tuzex, during the period of communist rule in Czechoslovakia
, was a network of shops in which it was possible to use hard currency
or Tuzex vouchers to purchase foreign, mainly western luxury goods, unavailable at regular stores. The Czechoslovak koruna
was not accepted. The name Tuzex is a contraction of tuzemský export (domestic export). The shops served to drain hard currency out of circulation.
Shops of this sort also existed in other communist states, for example Pewex
shops in Poland
and Intershop
s in the German Democratic Republic
.
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, was a network of shops in which it was possible to use hard currency
Hard currency
Hard currency , in economics, refers to a globally traded currency that is expected to serve as a reliable and stable store of value...
or Tuzex vouchers to purchase foreign, mainly western luxury goods, unavailable at regular stores. The Czechoslovak koruna
Czechoslovak koruna
The Czechoslovak koruna was the currency of Czechoslovakia from April 10, 1919 to March 14, 1939 and from November 1, 1945 to February 7, 1993...
was not accepted. The name Tuzex is a contraction of tuzemský export (domestic export). The shops served to drain hard currency out of circulation.
Shops of this sort also existed in other communist states, for example Pewex
Pewex
Pewex was a chain of hard currency shops in communist Poland...
shops in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and Intershop
Intershop
Intershop was a chain of government-run retail stores in the German Democratic Republic in which only hard currencies could be used to purchase high-quality goods. The East German mark was not accepted as payment...
s in the German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
.
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