BUSINESS ABROAD: On the Red Cuff

Soviet citizens next month will be able to sample that old staple of the U.S. consumer: installment buying. On terms of 20% to 25% down and six to twelve months to pay. Russians will be permitted to sign up for such expensive articles as motorcycles, sewing machines, cameras and luxury clothes. Service charges will be 1% to 2%, and there will be no opportunity to welsh on payments. The monthly bite will come as a payroll deduction.

The Soviet citizen’s curiosity about U.S. time payments—and particularly about the fate of defaulters—showed up strongly at the American National Exhibition in Moscow. While publicly deploring U.S. consumers who put themselves in debt, Soviet officials have quietly experimented with installment buying for two years. A trial in Odessa last February was hugely popular, although sloppy bookkeeping ended the venture.

Even with time payments, there seems little likelihood that many Russians will be able to get much on the cuff. The fact is that most luxury items are still in short supply. Last week a precedent-breaking deal to export Moskvich and Volga autos to West Germany fell through because Russia could not guarantee delivery of 2,500 cars. The severest trial for the Soviet worker who wants a camera or a motorcycle is not financing the inflated price, but waiting while his name slowly drifts to the head of a long waiting list.