RUSSIANS IN BLACK MARKET TO GAIN WEST MARKS
LONDON, Dec. 19. The Russians have entered the Berlin black market in an effort to corner the Western marks, says the British United Press correspondent in Berlin. They are now selling cigarettes at the equivalent of £5 a packet of 20 and suit lengths at £so—prices to be paid in Western marks which are worth three and a half times the Russian marks. So many Russians are selling black market goods for Western marks that the British authorities believe the Soviet authorities are encouraging them in spite of the recent death sentences on black market operators in the Russian zone. British intelligence authorities believe that one of the two reasons is behind the Russian move. Either money is needed to buy spare parts for factories in the Russian zone or else the Russians want to drain off as many Western marks as possible of the heavy but illegal demand for them in their zone.
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Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22825, 21 December 1948, Page 7
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162RUSSIANS IN BLACK MARKET TO GAIN WEST MARKS Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22825, 21 December 1948, Page 7
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