MINSK, 20 November (BelTA) – The film “Time chose us” aired by the Belarus 1 TV channel explains why vodka became an informal measure of purchasing power in 1991, BelTA reports.
The average salary in the BSSR in 1991 was Br541. The highest salary was paid in the construction sector (Br662 per month) and the lowest (Br370) in the services sector and consumer services sector. For comparison: a simple school uniform cost Br123, and a man's suit - about Br363.
In the capitalist world, the informal way of measuring the purchasing power parity is the Big Mac Index. In 1991, its equivalent in the USSR was a bottle of vodka. Taxi drivers sold it for Br35. By buying it, people tried to save their money. Vodka was bartered for other products.
“It was an objective process. In the conditions when money depreciates literally every day, what does not depreciate? It is clear that gold does not depreciate. And who has it? This bottle of vodka that you bought for a certain amount of rubles will cost more in a week. This is a classic function of money,” remarked writer Valery Tsapkov, who was an entrepreneur in the early 1990s.
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