Organization
Under the Czechoslovak system, foreign trade was a state monopoly, supervised by the central Ministry of Foreign Trade. The ministry oversaw the operation of about thirty foreign trade enterprises. As intermediaries between the domestic export producers or import purchasers and the external market, the enterprises were responsible for arranging contracts as well as for financing and generally supervising Czechoslovak foreign trade, usually setting prices that have little connection with domestic production factors.
The foreign trade companies bought Czechoslovak goods for export at domestic prices and sold foreign goods to Czechoslovak customers at domestic prices; but the other half of these transactions, involving actual foreign trade, took place in foreign currencies in foreign markets. The government budget then made adjustments to compensate for any unwanted gains and losses caused by varying foreign and domestic prices.
Read more about this topic: Foreign Trade Of Communist Czechoslovakia
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