From Bișniță to Business. The shock of free trade after ’90: “Romanians did not understand freedom of prices”

In the 1980s, a job then at the limit of the law aroused the indignation of many Romanians, while the communist authorities often hunted those who practiced it. The newspapers portrayed them in gloomy descriptions on the “bishops” and accused them of putting the shoulder to the parasitic of the economy.

The communist regime sought to control the production and trade in Romania, considering them “speculators” and following those who were trying to handle on their own, from the trade.

During this time, the Romanians faced the shortage of food and consumer goods, caused by the austerity policies of the Ceausescu era, having to procure them in hidden ways, using the services of the regime stigmatized entrepreneurs.

“The Romanians have endured the weight of the austerity program. The lack of food, especially meat, flour, sugar and dairy products, is higher than in the 1950s. Real income for the first time in recent history. Lacks in energy have disrupted production and caused weights on a large scale, and the working conditions have been damaged, absenteeism ”, It showed a report by the Central Information Agency (CIA) of 1983, about the situation of Romania of that period.

Bișnițarii, a deformed term from “business” (business), were among the Romanians accused of the bad state of the economy, and the communist press transformed the articles into true indictments. In the era of rationalizations and food deficiencies, in which the state decided to be produced, as it is sold and what is the price of the products, the “bishops” became the negative heroes of Romania, accused of wanting to enrich from the others.

Bișnitarii hunted in communism

In 1982, the newspaper Clopotul in Botosani reported on the arrest of three young people whom the militia had found in a bar, with a bag full of cosmetic products, which they sold in secret.

“11 o’clock. The usual day of work. In the industrial area of ​​Botosani municipality, as in all units, it boils the work. At the same time, a few specimens of young people, aged before, make a discordant note that shocks and indignates. The terrace of the spruce buffet. Company. They have neither dreams nor ideals. Their desire every day? To find “suckers” to allow them the parasitic life and uninnouncement “,, note the newspaper in Botosani.

The young “bishops” were accused of selling and buying anything: from cigarettes to chewing gum, cosmetics and clothes.

“It is necessary for all of us to intervene more promptly, taking them from the collar and bringing them in front of the laws, to answer: where do they have them? But not only to this question, but-why not?-to explain why I do not work,” concludes the author of the report.

The little businesses that feed Romania

Other newspapers of the time, which accused the phenomenon of the Bișnita of the 1980s, recognized, indirectly, the shortcomings in the Romanian economy.

“In winter, on the street, one in three citizens wears fur coat, but in the store, no matter how much you look for, you can not find it, although it can be seen. meat etc., what do we find? inform the newspaper Urzica in 1981.

The publication showed the deficiencies in the supply of stores, the lack of preparation of those who were leading the shopping centers and the bureaucracy in the system, accusing the “bunch”, often employed in the trade, of taking advantage of these dysfunctions. They managed to offer customers faster, but at higher prices, bread, sugar, onions, curtains, carpets, Dacia windshields, cigarettes and products considered luxury, which did not reach stores.

“However, let’s not forget: the bishops, regardless of the” gauge “, are not supplied from … a widow. Most often, they take advantage of either the heavy, bureaucratic system, existing in the movement of goods, or racing individuals quarreled with the norms of ethics and equity, posted behind the pans or in the back, Be only one: only clean people must be behind the counter! ”, note the author Ion Tipsie.

Other publications recognized that the bishops were tolerated by the system, even though, officially, the authorities claimed to try to stop the phenomenon. The picturesque Romania advertised that the small businessmen were endless from the resorts in Bucegi.

“At the exits of the stations, in Sinaia or Predeal, on the streets, at the entrance to the hotel, etc., the tourists are greeted by all kinds of representatives of the local trade movement, with a recipient” to give you a stripe with surprises! ” Or with a warm “at the stick, the boy!”. lei), either bags and memories of plastic or the most ugly ornament objects-authentic kitschs ”, informed the publication in 1989.

The first entrepreneurs of Romania

After 1990, the way in which those who were trying to prosper were viewed gradually, even though the term “bişnițar”, with whom traders often were associated, continued to arouse the indignation of many Romanians. The first private stores in the Capital, which offered products different from those that were normally in socialist shops and supply, were raging among Romanians.

The New York Times described, in 1990, the success of the small store opened by Anda Baldau, a former secretary who was leading one of the few private stores in Bucharest.

“Anda Baldau opened her store four years ago, in the shadow of the Bucharest Army building. Until the December Revolution, she was allowed to sell only one category of products for which she had been authorized: white silk, hand-woven, for brides. She turned her store into an exotic empire according to the Romanian standards: jeans made in Turkey, Italian tights, Chinese lipsticks and Romanian bowling shirts.informed the American publication in August 1990.

The journalists noticed that, from 10 o’clock in the morning until a short time after the closing time, 6 in the evening, a tail is formed in front of his store, crammed into a row of shops that kept traces of the pre-communist grandeur. The space, as a modest living room, had mirrors on the walls, glossy metal shelves and three elegant sellers.

“Former secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Trade, Mrs. Baldau obtained the license for a private store due to the” handmade “character of her silk products. Business goes so well that they hope to open two more summer stores if it receives approvals. She and her husband, Constantin, also set up a small train factory, which are sold as soon as they are put on the shelf – “jump from the hangers as you say Carl Lewis.” Training are bestsellers, although extremely expensive for Romanians: 1,250 lei, about $ 10 at the Black Market, ie the equivalent of a weekly salary. The rent of the store is 200 lei ”, inform the publication.

The woman’s husband deals with the supply of the store, bringing goods from Greece, Turkey and even Abu Dhabi. However, many customers complained about prices, even if they appreciated the quality of the products.

“The hardest thing is to find good goods. The people here are used to very cheap things, but almost everything you buy from abroad is expensive. Romanians do not understand the concept of freedom in establishing prices. I do not understand that cosmetic products are much more expensive,” declares the entrepreneur.

Trade, rescue collage for many Romanians

The weak local currencies and the persistent lack of food and consumer goods transformed illegal trade into a kind of temporary rescue collage, note the Reuters press agency, in a report on Bucharest, published in September 1990.

“On a gray street in Bucharest, an eight -year -old boy sells beer at a double price compared to the one he should have been selling in the empty store in which he did not arrive. Nearby, his father buys dollars from tourists, at a swollen course. Black gets out of control, and governments seem outdated by the situation ”, Reuters note.

The agency recalled that the Romanian customs had confiscated 45 kilograms of mercury from Romanian travelers crossing the border to Turkey.

“Mercury, very valuable, could have been sold with consistent amounts in Istanbul, where travelers would have bought jeans, cigarettes and cosmetics, highly sought after, but hard to find at home,” the journalists added.

In the Romanian cities, huge queues of cars were formed at the gas stations, and those who skip the turn offered discreetly, to the employee from the pump a few Kent cigarette packages “the most stable coin of Romania”, according to journalists.

Many Romanians then decided to dedicate themselves to the trade, from the need to find a means of survival or intuiting the opportunities offered by that period. Other Romanians have kept the cliches for a long time with which the communist regime described “Bișnița”.