Word: comecon
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...they would be immune, by last year made themselves felt on the other side of the Iron Curtain. Inflation sharply raised the prices of the Western goods that the Communists buy, while the 1974-75 recession dried up what few Western markets had existed for Eastern European goods. So Comecon's trade deficit with the West went from $5 billion in 1974 to $12 billion in 1975, and the red ink could be covered only by borrowing heavily from capitalist banks, suppliers and governments...
Bargain's End. Like the other Eastern European members of Comecon,* Hungary is reeling under the impact of the sudden 130% rise. Except for Rumania, which has its own oilfields, the Eastern bloc depends almost entirely on Soviet energy supplies, and it had been getting a bargain. Though the world price of oil quintupled to more than $10 per bbl., the Soviet Union continued to sell to its allies at $3 per bbl. Since Comecon prices are adjusted only once every five years, Eastern European leaders believed they would enjoy that deal, at least until...
...social priorities, not market forces, should determine prices. Though the Soviet Union is the world's leading oil producer (averaging 9 million bbl. per day last year, v. 8.5 million for Saudi Arabia), domestic and Eastern European demand will outstrip output by 1980. The Soviet Union and its Comecon partners are already importing small quantities of high-priced Middle Eastern oil, mainly from Iraq, Iran and Libya. Hence the Soviets are in a rush to develop new Siberian fields. They must invest lavishly in expensive Western equipment and drill in a remote region where operating costs will be high...
...rapidly scrape the limits of its self-sufficiency if it is to meet plans to expand its petrochemical industry and treble auto ownership (to 9 million cars) by 1980. Soon the Soviets will have to restrict oil sales and greatly increase the preferential prices that they charge to their Comecon partners. Last year Poland reportedly had to buy a large amount of Libyan crude, at $16 to $20 per bbl. Strapped for hard currency to pay for oil from non-Communist sources, East Germany had to restrict the expansion of its plastics and textiles industries...
Jubilation. The Soviets, who have long been lecturing their East-bloc allies that the only true Communism is orthodox Communism, are jubilant. Despite its new homage to Moscow-style Marxism, Belgrade is not expected to join the Warsaw Pact or seek active membership in Comecon, Eastern Europe's common market. In a New Year's address Tito stressed Belgrade's political nonalignment. The Soviets, he said, "have finally come to see Yugoslavia in her special role as a positive thing...