Berizka ('Birch') Shop (Prypiat) | store / shop, abandoned / shut down, 1973_construction

Ukraine / Kyyivska / Prypyat / Prypiat / vulytsia Druzhby Narodiv, 18
 store / shop, abandoned / shut down, 1973_construction
Berizka (Ukrainian – 'little birch tree') was the name of a chain of state-run retail stores in the former USSR that sold Western goods for hard currency rather than Soviet goods for ration coupons or rubles.

Officially, capitalist hard currency was illegal for Soviet citizens to own, but if one had a relative or friend in the West, they could send Western currency (generally the much needed US dollar) to the Soviet government and the government in turn would issue their relative a special check they could use to buy rare and coveted US-made products at a Beryozka shop.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beryozka
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   51°24'18"N   30°3'56"E