The former communist states set to join the European Union in four months are embracing the West in wholehearted fashion
Published:
20 January 2004 y., Tuesday
The former communist states set to join the European Union in four months are embracing the West in wholehearted fashion — flexing their new market economy muscles in their own shopping centers and hypermarkets.
The spatious well-lit stores chock full of food and merchandise are cropping up behind the old Iron Curtain, gleaming like jewels against the unadorned, grey, utilitarian architecture built for the old proletariat.
Mass marketing - both the availabiity of goods and the buying power that makes one a full-fledged consumer - are still novel concepts in the former Soviet satellite states.
"The people were frustrated by the lack of choice and the shortages under communism," said Tomas Krasny, director general of Incoma, a Czech marketing firm. "They now crave abundance."
Thanks to very liberal laws, the hypermarkets generally remain open every day, some even 24 hours a day, even in Roman Catholic Poland where church tradition still upholds Sunday as the day of rest.
Šaltinis:
bday.co.za
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
On 11 February, heads of state or government of European Union member states will meet in Brussels to seek a commitment towards implementing a revitalised economic strategy to boost employment and growth in the EU.
more »
International Monetary Fund forecasts that Lithuania’s economy will grow 1.6 % this year, making it “the only one of the three Baltic economies expected to be in the positive territory in 2010”.
more »
Raynair announced it would open its 40th and 1st Central European base at Kaunas, Lithuania’s second largest city, in May with 2 based aircraft and 18 routes.
more »
A new Partnership Strategy for Morocco has been approved by the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank.
more »
The electric car is an opportunity for European industry.
more »
The EBRD’s Board of Directors has adopted a new strategy for Kazakhstan, which reinforces the Bank’s commitment to further support the Kazakh economy and sets out the priorities for its activities in the country over the next three years.
more »
The European Commission has authorised, under EU state aid rules, plans notified by Sweden to provide a guarantee that would enable Saab Automobile AB to access a loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB).
more »
At the informal meeting of the Ministers of Competitiveness (Science and Industry), to be held between 7 and 9 February in San Sebastian, the issues on the table will include placing science at the top of the EU agenda and showcasing its role in economic recovery, as well taking the debate on the electric vehicle to EU level.
more »
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today approved a 27-month Stand-By Arrangement with Jamaica in the amount of SDR 820.5 million (about US$1.27 billion) to support the country’s economic reforms and help it cope with the consequences of the global downturn.
more »
Mr. Nadeem Ilahi, chief of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff mission to the Kyrgyz Republic, issued the following statement today in Bishkek.
more »