Comment by cesis | Hacker News Reader

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Comment by cesis | Hacker News Reader

At one time Pepsi actually owned several USSR military vessels

https://www.businessinsider.com/how-pepsi-briefly-became-the...

They were sold for scrap. They were less military vessels than large floating objects worth their weight in steel.

You have to wonder what the executives thought of this!

Sounds like an interesting documentary ready to happen.

>You have to wonder what the executives thought of this!

Based on the time period, in the words of Rick James, "cocaine is a helluva drug." If that was the actual reason, it makes total sense. If that's not the reason, then what the actual f were they doing?

There wasn't a usable forex market for ruble to USD. At that point you drop down to essentially bartering.

There weren't many products in the Soviet Union that could be sold in the west. They needed a commodity that was to western standards. Soviet steel had full scrap value in the west and the ships were mobile. Pepsi also traded for tomato paste.

Bribing someone?

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