Military checks rubles rank. Afghani, "cheques" and rubles

It is well known what a heavy burden on the Soviet economy in 1979-89 was the cost associated with the participation of a "limited contingent".

In addition to official spending on Afghanistan in one form or another, some impact on the economy Soviet Union The unofficial Afghan and near-Afghan economic system, which developed as a result of the presence of the Soviet military contingent in a foreign country, also had a role.

Here we must recall the flow of goods that poured into the Union from the south. Most of them came to Soviet consumers in the suitcases of officers, soldiers and civilian specialists returning from an undeclared war, or in secluded places of the withdrawn equipment. In turn, Afghanistan large quantities Soviet goods that were in short supply there were sent quite unofficially.

And where there is international trade, its own currency system inevitably arises. The published memoirs of veterans of the undeclared war in Afghanistan allow us to get a certain idea about it.

Perhaps, Aleskender Ramazanov covered the “currency” side of the Afghan war in most detail: “The monetary allowance of soldiers and sergeants of military service in Afghanistan was beggarly and fluctuated between 20-40 rubles a month. Part of this amount was exchanged for VPT (Vneshposyltorg) checks. Despite the ominous warnings, the check had nothing to do with currency. This surrogate for the ruble could be used to pay in Voentorg stores in the 40th Army or, until the beginning of 1989, on the territory of the USSR in the "currency" shops "Beryozka".

The essence was clarified by the "black market" in the Union, where the VPT check cost about three and a half rubles (close to the real exchange rate of the US dollar, contrary to the legend about the "buck" for sixty Soviet kopecks).

Officers and ensigns, depending on the rank, position, time of service in the DRA, received a double salary according to their position, from which from 45 to 150 rubles were deducted and exchanged for checks of the VPT. Accrual occurred daily, strictly in accordance with the number of days spent abroad. In 1981, junior officers received about 180 checks for a full month in the DRA, senior officers - 250. By the end of the Afghan campaign, this type of payment had almost doubled. Numbered stamps were put on banknotes of 100 and 50 checks, according to them it was possible, in theory, to trace where he came from to the “Afghans” or to the “non-Afghans” in the Union: in Beryozki they demanded from buyers an identity card, passports, military tickets - sometimes at the entrance to the store, not to mention the checkout. Didn't help! In the fight against smugglers and speculators, wide red stripes-lampas and formidable inscriptions about a special purpose for military trade appeared on checks. The wonderful properties of checks include the following: if an officer could pay a quarter of the cost of the Volga with checks, then he was allowed to purchase a car out of turn.

And yet - the check was assigned and canceled! In January 1989, to complete the withdrawal of troops, Beryozka stores closed and the check could be exchanged for Soviet rubles one for one with army treasurers. Here is such a currency substitute!
And since Afghan shopkeepers bought everything they could sell from Soviet soldiers and officers, they needed a lot of checks. Imagine their reaction to the cancellation of checks!

“Normal people don’t do that,” dukandor Ali-Muhammadi from Mazar-i-Sharif assured the author of these lines. The Shah is gone. Daoud is gone - paisa lives. Taraki, Babrak - all Afghanis walk! What is your country? Canceled the money, right? A panel of red-striped checks of the VPT adorned the northern wall of his dukan. However, the Afghans already had a lesson in 1917. Their chests are probably glued with royal banknotes to this day. So we haven't learned...

As for the prices for consumer goods in military stores - "chekushki", they roughly corresponded to the all-Union. In the "chekushkas" they immediately organized: "deficiency", the issuance of goods with the permission of the unit commander, the restriction of "sales in one hand", the ban on the sale of certain goods to soldiers and sergeants, and a complete "bummer" to advisers! Those sometimes were not allowed into the territory of the units.

Showcases and shelves of "chekushkas" were packed with fruit juice surrogates from Yugoslavia, dry biscuits, hard candies, Chinese canned meats. Under the "record" were sold tracksuits, suitcases, "diplomats", tape recorders from Japan and Germany. Zi-zi lemonade was considered luxury, which, however, was called "sisi", with an emphasis on the first syllable, of course. By the time the troops were withdrawn, when a considerable check mass had accumulated in the hands of the servicemen, the “chekushkas” were mysteriously empty.

Check notes were 100, 50, 10, 5, 1 ruble and 50, 10, 1 kopeck. A penny could buy a box of matches or an unstamped envelope. After being accepted at the store, the checks were canceled (the triangle was cut around the edge).

During all the years of the Afghan campaign, there was a categorical prohibition on the purchase of goods in local shops (dukans), and therefore, everything that was not purchased in “chekushkas” could be seized on “legal grounds”. This concerned less officers, and a soldier could be cleaned naked before being sent home - in a unit, at a transit point or at customs. Which happened all the time and everywhere. Shmon is an immortal thing!

But it was a wise political and ideological decision: how can something sensible be brought from an undeveloped country, which we undertook to help everyone, down to flesh and blood? The money theme was rather dry and stingy deposited in the memory of veterans. Far from a decisive factor for the Soviet soldier of those times.

It is not entirely clear why the author dates the closure of Beryozki to January 1989? January 1988 is usually mentioned, not 1989. In the first days of January 1988, the Government of the USSR announced the liquidation of the system of trading for checks, in the course of the campaign "to fight against privileges" and "for social justice." At the same time, huge queues arose - the owners of the checks tried by any means to get rid of them before the announced closing date.

But one cannot but agree with the fact that the financial factor was not decisive for the Soviet soldiers and officers of those times. But their readiness to serve their country and fight where ordered was too shamelessly exploited in incredibly difficult conditions.

Magic officer's hat

Here is a description of how the first practical lesson in Afghan currency studies was received by officers who recently arrived in Afghanistan, made by helicopter flight engineer Igor Frolov:

“When drowsiness began to fall on the silenced flight technicians, two Afghan soldiers from the airfield guard approached the board. Sticking their heads in the door, they examined the interior, looking under the benches.

– Jam, sweets, liver? the tall one asked.
“Nothing, they haven’t earned it yet,” Lieutenant Molotilkin spread his hands.
- This! - one soldier pointed to the winter hat of the flight engineer F., lying on an additional tank.
What about the keys to the apartment? - said the flight engineer F.

Suddenly behind the back of a soldier Afghan army a dark-haired captain of the Soviet army appeared. The flight technicians did not hear how the Toyota drove up - she dropped off the passengers at the KDP so that the two majors got acquainted with the chief of the airfield, Colonel Sattar, and the captain went to the sides.

- What, are you afraid to sell your honor? - he asked Lieutenant F. - So honor, she is in a cockade, but there is no cockade anymore. A man, not to mention a military officer, must have money ...

The first days, until they were uniformed, the flight engineer F. walked in his gray-blue officer's cap, taking off his golden cockade - there should not be unmasking details shining in the sun on the field uniform.

- Fuck noise, dust? the captain asked the soldier.
- Hub! - said the soldier, smiling white-toothed at the Russian giant.

The captain went up to the cabin, took the hat of flight engineer F., showed it to the soldier:

– Du hazor?
“No, no,” the soldier shook his head. - Hazor...
What about winter in the mountains? the captain said. - Your dushman brothers are cold, however ...
- Dushman is the enemy! - Smiling, said the soldier.
- All right, brother of the enemy, - said Rosenquit, - like hazor panch sad! and he thrust his cap into the soldier's hands.

He immediately put it on his head, took out a thin bundle from his bosom, peeled off several bills and gave it to the captain.
The captain opened a bag of orange percale, in which, judging by the protruding edges, packs of Afghans were packed, put the soldier’s money into it, took out a banknote of fifty checks of Vneshposyltorg from his pocket and handed it to flight engineer F.

- What is this? - the flight engineer F., amazed at the speed of selling his cap, asked.
“This is the first lesson of the free market and illegal foreign exchange transactions,” the captain said. - A hat worth eleven rubles in the Voentorg, besides heavily second-hand, was sold for one and a half thousand afoshkas to a friendly Afghan warrior, for whom a warm thing in winter is more necessary than Montana jeans, which you can buy in a local dukan for the same one and a half thousand. So that you understand your gain, I gave it to you in checks, at the rate of one to thirty. In the Union, these half a hundred checks will be exchanged for you near Beryozka one to three for 150 rubles, that is, your profit will be more than a thousand percent ...

- Some kind of nonsense ... - the flight engineer Molotilkin said admiringly. - It turns out that if I bring a hundred of these hats here, you can buy a Volga in the Union?

- "Volga" can be bought by correctly scrolling a case of vodka, - the captain laughed. – But this is a question of import-export, then you will understand. By the way, for these half a hundred checks you can buy a bottle of vodka here, and at the Tashkent airport you need to put so much in your passport at the cash desk so that you can then sell a ticket home for rubles. Such are the paradoxes.

Flight engineer F. was struck by this simple but powerful mathematics of the market. True, he was embarrassed by the fact that he so unprincipledly allowed to give into the wrong hands his own hat, doused with kissel in the dining room, scorched by the stove of the squadron house at the Amur airfield, kerosene, which had served him as a pillow so many times ... He suddenly felt that he had sold his smaller sister, and he felt ashamed. And even scary - I remembered my grandmother's remarks - "do not wave your hat - your head will hurt" or "do not throw your hat anywhere - you will forget your head." Is this not a sign that he will leave his stupid and greedy head here?

To distract himself, he began to think about how, when he returned to the base, he would go to the “chekushka”, where the saleswoman Luda, nicknamed Globus, would sell him a block of Java cigarettes, a bottle of Donna cherry, a pack of cookies, a box of chocolates and, probably, a can of crabs . And then he will go to a bookstore and buy a black two-volume Lorca there, so that, closing after dinner on board, he will read, lying on a bench, about the moon over Cordoba, smoking, shaking the ashes into the open porthole and drinking Donna ... "

Before the eyes of flight engineer F., a winter hat worth 11 rubles in the military department, heavily used (that is, used), doused with jelly and kerosene, turned into 50 precious checks. As the old-time captain quite rightly noted, a warm thing in winter is more necessary than Montana jeans. Who in the then Soviet Union would understand this? An unfortunate tattered hat - and a precious Montana. How many dramatic stories due to the lack of this most coveted "Montana" from a guy or girl happened at that time ... And then a hat as the equivalent of "Montana". Monetary Afghan fiction, incomprehensible to ordinary citizens of the USSR.

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They built baths from improvised material. Often these were ammunition packages: aerial bombs, NURSs, shells. The “Gradovskaya” container was especially valued - a long, tongue-and-groove board. Sometimes the walls were built from "blocks", stuffing green boxes with dry clay. Inside, they were sheathed with the same boards, cleaned of protective paint. Chopped, and then from afar, I had a chance to see near Kabul, in a special battalion. They said that they brought a bathhouse with them, rolling it into logs.

To heat water and steam rooms, they mainly used home-made stoves made of iron barrels, steel sheets, nozzles running on diesel fuel and aviation kerosene, "Polaris" - a hybrid of a potbelly stove and jet engine. Firewood was rarely used. Not without reason in Afghanistan, firewood in the markets was sold by weight!

The first bathhouse that the author of these lines got into in Afghanistan belonged to a Mi-24 helicopter squadron in Kunduz. She was heated on aviation kerosene (RT), she kept a stable 110 degrees in the steam room, there was plenty of water. German, foreman, washed everyone according to the schedule. Everyone had enough. Brooms were brought from Jalalabad and the Union. The bathhouse (black) was good in the minbatre 56 odshb, with Captain Maksimov. Rough steam! Washroom and steam room together, kind of grubby and slimy, but cool! More pilots (technicians) built a bathhouse behind the strip from shell boxes stuffed with clay. They both lived and steamed in it. Then this miracle burned down. The big bath was in 783 orbs. The wig is spacious. It was customary that after the raids - immediately to the bathhouse. The “highest” was the bathhouse on Salanga, at the Northern portal - 3560 meters above sea level, in the pool the water is flowing, of course, all year round- icy. In terms of the number of baths per capita, the Bagram garrison was probably ahead of everyone. There were three of them in the army rembat alone. They praised the "Jalalabad buchilo", the bathhouse in Anava - they stood by natural springs. They said that in Tashkurgan, in the 122nd regiment, they heated a bath natural gas- what kind of problems were filmed!

"In secret" in the baths, long-distance communication lines and ZAS were carried out. It was possible not to lose control of the troops from the dressing room. They set up billiard and tea rooms. The brains of inspectors, artists, journalists and mid-level Afghan agents hovered in Kabul's "cunning" bathhouses.

The Afghans, especially the military and party, were very fond of bathing in our baths. But they did not have a chance to see a working hamm (bath) either in Kabul, or in Kunduz, or in Mazar-i-Sharif. Often, Afghan friends joked that before the arrival of the Shuravi, they did not know what vodka and a steam room were. Of course they did. But the Soviets could drink and bathe naked without fear for their own health and other dignity. By the way, Afghans always brought vodka with them. They did not like freeloaders and did not suffer from this themselves. You just had to know that if you asked for something from a local, especially a Pashtun, give it back when he asks.

You can ask a legitimate question - where does pediculosis come from, if there are so many baths? Here we can say that the louse is a constant companion of wars, because it simply crawls to the smell of grief. In addition, in many garrisons, not only baths, but also showers were missing!

“In the artillery regiment, in Northern Kunduz, if you managed to wash yourself before the water ran out, then it’s good. In winter, in general, melancholy about washing. In the summer there was a shower room for officers; if they didn’t catch it, it means that they managed to freshen up. ”

“At first they bathed in fuel barrels. Then we set up a tent with a shower. And the bath was only for officers.

“The soldier’s bath in the rembat was bad: just a room, and about ten taps under the ceiling. But the officer's was with a steam room and a pool. Particularly guilty people washed this pool twice a week with Lysol (a phenol-based antiseptic) without gloves. My hands peeled off in a moment and then healed for two weeks. ”

HOW YOU WELCOME THE NEW YEAR

Few were preparing (stockpiling food, booze and "pyrotechnics") for, say, November 7th or May 1st. Day Soviet army officers noted more, but there is no need to talk about March 8. And here New Year everyone noted. By all means and means - of course, if possible. In a foreign garrison, on guard duty, on duty or in an ambush (and this happened), you don’t really clear up.

In the Soviet Army, holidays were a headache for commanders. A number of bans were announced, increased combat readiness was introduced, and numerous persons responsible for discipline and order were appointed. In Afghanistan, this practice was reinforced by bans on air travel, crossing the state border and leaving military camps. But the soul wanted a holiday!

Who remembers half a glass of vodka in a trench near Herat, brought by a "partisan" at exactly twelve o'clock. Who is the five-fold cleaning mash, sharop, “joint” and a cake made from cookies and condensed milk. But everyone remembers New Year's Eve with fireworks.

“1988 met on the hill in Khost ... salute from tracers from all the slides. Plague!"

“We met as expected, from everything that was at the outpost, including a mortar and a tank. But what was over Kabul is a must see!”

“At the seventh gate. They shot a porcupine, cooked well. I was dressed up as Santa Claus."

“Coast champagne under the chimes, and in the evening a friend asked me to change it for two bottles of vodka. Agreed. He soaped himself in the women's module. I met the clock with a glass of Denau water with a taste of kerosene, and then added a tracer store to the general salute.

“In a week, they started charging the batteries, we had a TV set, it worked from 12 volts, there were mash, moonshine, a sea of chars and some other tops. Twice in the evening they raised the alarm, and then they staged such a salute! They launched lighting projectiles from self-propelled guns, then the entire battery with tracers on them. It was very beautiful and fun."

“The new 87th, near the airfield at a point near Jalalabad, the glow all night and the sky in tracers is unforgettable!”

“They fired all night from everything that was - 2 tanks, 3 120-mm mortars, launched rockets, which were rearranged in range from 800 to 1200 meters, and tracers on them; we ate mash, well, chars was present.

“When the mortars fired, they did something, and some of the mines exploded in a nearby village. They organized a firefighter there, and in response they received shooting from the village.”

“December 31, 84th, on transit in Kabul. Plus two in the modules, minus ten outside, snow. They drank everything that was in the nearest dukans.

“Secretly went out at night to Chardara. There was information that the "spirits" would move towards the border. We spent the night in the mud, the snow was wet. And you can't smoke. And in the direction of the division, on the hill - a glow and a roar! As if they took Berlin - such a firing. Over the North, everything was also shining. The next morning they returned with nothing, hungry and numb from the cold. But the guys left everything we need. This was the New Year, 1982.”

“1986th. Panjshir. They approached, turned around, but did not enter on the 31st. Festive cake made from crushed cookies and condensed milk. At 24 hours the sky was painted with tracers, rockets.

SOLDIER DREAMS

Dreams have a remarkable ability to be forgotten. But if something is seen several times in a row, how not to remember! It is clear even without Freud why veterans are reluctant to talk about their Afghan dreams. Dreaming of war is bad. The house is dreaming - anxious melancholy in the morning: has something happened?

Soldiers' dreams in Afghanistan could not be serenely happy. nervous tension, physical fatigue, bad food, harsh climatic and living conditions, prolonged sexual abstinence - what kind of "embrace of Morpheus" can we talk about? Rather, "neighbor crushed"!

The most stable plot of dreams was associated with the malfunction of weapons and equipment in a combat situation, with a second call to Afghanistan. The first, of course, is scary, and the second is even worse, since the life of a young soldier - a "spirit" - was not only hard, but in some cases humiliating.

“Some row of dugouts, connected by a common corridor, in the dungeon near the “spirits”. I look out of the dugout into the corridor and see turbans. I think: come on, not the first time, up to x cartridges. me, and there are no more than five of them, in the sense of “spirits”. I look into the hole in the magazine - I don’t see a cartridge, I disconnect it - and I have two cartridges there ... "

"Spirit", the muzzle is red, wide, comes out of the reed directly at me. I press the hook - misfire. Dushara laughs, slowly raises his white-polished AKM. I pulled the shutter, but it goes slowly into place and stops in the middle. This is where I woke up. And the heart jumps in the throat.

“Let's go ambush in a group, I'm going last, PC on the right shoulder. Suddenly I feel that the soul is tugging at my left shoulder. I think: just not to frighten me away, and I turn around over my left shoulder, kick him in the head ... I open my eyes: Andryukha is holding me, wrapping her arms around me, and the checking major is lying on the floor, who kept trying to put me in line. He was saved by the fact that the blanket caught on his leg. And I stand and shout: “Where are the “spirits”?”

“Meters in twenty “spirits”. I queue in them, and the bullets from the barrel fall to the ground about five meters away. And the “spirits” have “drills” and machine guns on their belts. They just stand and laugh: well, what, shuravi, jumped over?

They talked about prophetic dreams when mother, father or school friends warned of imminent danger. Yes, there is nothing surprising: if in the morning you go in a column through Baghlan or to Faizabad, then you don’t need to go to the grandmother - it will come true!

“Mother shakes her shoulder and says: “Wake up, son!” I woke up, got out of the module, just lit a pipe, and the “eres” immediately went - first in the direction of the airborne division, and then very close to us.

“In the morning I had a dream about my first love, back in the ninth grade. We crashed with her on my Chezeta scooter, and I see blood in a dream. It really was once! In the morning I got up - not myself. At the headquarters of the disassembly, I was late for the convoy, I got hooked on someone else's armor, I thought: before the first stop. And he was blown away on the way out. "Spirits" at night fitted a land mine under the nose at the post.

“According to the first Afghan, he often dreamed that he had killed someone. The dream does not say who exactly. And I hide the corpse in different places. And they find it everywhere. I woke up with relief that it was all a dream. Then I realized: this dream saved me from many mortal sins.

Often recall dreams with a "physiological lining." And what else to expect from the body at nineteen or twenty years old? Soldier's wisdom says: "Zhorevo and bang - it's very healthy."

“I saw in a dream a duck fried with apples, smoke with a filter, ate ice cream, swam in the sea. When they sent to the Red Star, then twice in a dream the battalion commander handed it in front of the ranks. The girls never dreamed. But after demobilization, for another two years, in a dream, he squeezed his hand between his legs so that he twisted his wrist. Or wake up with red fingerprints on your shoulder. Wife weaned!

“You know what dreams! Nowhere did they itch so mudya as in Afghanistan. Now I understand - it was a sign that they would come in handy in the future. True, the boys spoke - they gritted their teeth and moaned. And it flipped over with a jolt. Hochma! It was like someone was throwing it. Yes, many do!”

CHECKS AND "CHECKS"

The monetary allowance of soldiers and sergeants in Afghanistan was beggarly and fluctuated between 20-40 rubles per month. Part of this amount was exchanged for VPT (Vneshposyltorg) checks. Despite the ominous warnings, the check had nothing to do with currency. This surrogate for the ruble could be used to pay in Voentorg stores in the 40th Army or, until the beginning of 1989, on the territory of the USSR in Beryozka "currency" stores.

In an incomprehensible way, when exchanging the due amount, a serviceman was given two and a half checks for a ruble, and when spending accountable check amounts, officers were charged four rubles for a check ruble. Like in a library when a book is lost. The essence was clarified by the "black market" in the Union, where the VPT check cost about three and a half rubles (close to the real exchange rate of the US dollar, contrary to the legend about the "buck" for sixty Soviet kopecks).

Numbered stamps were put on banknotes of 100 and 50 checks, according to them it was possible, in theory, to trace where he came from to the “Afghans” or to the “non-Afghans” in the Union: in Beryozki they demanded from buyers an identity card, passports, military tickets - sometimes at the entrance to the store, not to mention the checkout. Didn't help!

In the fight against smugglers and speculators, wide red stripes-lampas and formidable inscriptions about a special purpose for military trade appeared on checks.

The wonderful properties of checks include the following: if an officer could pay a quarter of the cost of the Volga with checks, then he was allowed to purchase a car out of turn.

The "Afghans" loved the checks of the VPT, since it was easier to import them into the USSR and it was safer to pay off the plunderers of military property and socialist property. An excess of afghani (Afghan currency) could cause suspicion in a soldier, and checks are native. Accumulated! Friends have dropped! And since Afghan shopkeepers bought everything they could sell from Soviet soldiers and officers, they needed a lot of checks. Imagine their reaction to the cancellation of checks!

The money theme was rather dry and stingy deposited in the memory of veterans. Far from a decisive factor for the Soviet soldier of those times. However, some evidence is noteworthy:

“1980. Around February - May, I do not remember exactly. There were no VPT checks yet. They gave out papers printed on a typewriter, but with a seal. The meaning is something like this: "A check for the purchase of goods in the amount of ...." (something about 25-30 rubles). You can buy goods only in a military trade shop, and the seller on the reverse side writes down the purchase amount and puts a seal. At the final closing of the amount, the check was withdrawn by the seller.

“81-82 years. The gunner operator received 19 checks, and the sergeant 25 checks. One check could be exchanged for 10 afghani, and in 1982 for 15–16 afghani.”

“In 1987, VPT checks appeared with a red border (top and bottom) and on the strip it was written “special, for military trade.” In the Union, in Beryozki, they were not accepted. With the introduction of these checks, the private began to receive 23 checks.

“A conscript, as a foreman of a company, received 98 “striped” checks. Sergeant, squad leader, 36.80 of the same, "striped".

“I received red-striped checks from the second salary. Their “spirits” in the cantina (a shop in the Morflot iron container) were also willingly taken.

“The calculation (of the officers) was going on - two salaries in rubles. 50 rub. transferred to checks, from a ruble account. Minus for cigarettes, minus party dues, minus home, as much as you say.

“From 12.86 to 08.87 I received 536 rubles - of which 16 rubles went to the common fund (party contributions from a member of the CPSU). 08 kop.

“From the ruble part of the salary, 18 rubles. subtracted (optional). Instead - thirty packs of Java or Rostov-on-Don.

“I remember there was a conversation at the beginning of 1986 about an increase in monetary allowance, but Chernobyl happened.”

“In Kunduz I received 536 rubles. (contributions 16.08 rubles) - these are 1981-1982. In Kabul in the 86-88s - 650 rubles, contributions - about 19 rubles).

“230 checks minus 7 checks for party or Komsomol contributions - 223 checks remained on hand. Everything else went to books and was paid in the Union: rank, position, length of service, but it was also subject to tribute.

“85-86s: private 9.20, sergeant (or private specialist) - 13.80. Then they didn’t know anything about inflation, so everything was stable.”

“In 1985, returning from a business trip through Kabul, I stumbled upon a captain from a construction unit (even a countryman!). He asked me to help smuggle the checks. True, I have two hundred and fifty of my own, well, I can take another two hundred - they say, there are left from old business trips. He became sad: "I need twenty thousand." Fuck! And three hours later, in Tuzel, I saw him in a happy state. Take it, get out!”

“Damn, no checks, no glory! Arrived with a suitcase, flew away with a suitcase. Once we were on transit in Kabul: I really didn’t like how the demobilized “diplomats” were rummaged around.”

“The “diplomats” were rummaged around before being sent, in parts, and this is true, a shameful page ...”

“Shmonali in front of the demobilization, but not very cruelly. But in Kokaity! Jeans were taken away - I bought it in dukan! Small things were halved - did you take it in dukan? Scarves with lurex - withdraw! It was rested, and the customs officer called the border guards. “How much did you receive, comrade sergeant? Thirteen checks a month? And here for six hundred rubles! He spat - mentally, of course, they had a harsh commandant's office there.

“The exchange rates for afoshkas, rubles, checks, vodka, crystal, cologne, electric kettles, American jeans and other goodness are the dirty underside of that war. By the way, the “polkans” who came to Afghanistan from all over our former vast country received 50 per diem checks a day, that’s it!”

“... The store (regimental) was empty all the time. Therefore, wanting to bring at least something home, soldiers and officers went to Afghan dukans. Not for everyone, such events ended successfully, and one day two soldiers from our mortar battery were caught and beheaded by the "spirits."

“He was an ordinary. Received 10 checks. In 1984. From some caravan they took old money, still pre-revolutionary. So they, in the cantina, flew in - apparently, for beauty; they also gave change with afoshkas.

“4 bubbles of moonshine = 2 bubbles of vodka = 100 rubles. (checks).

“You’ll kill the caravan, you had to burn so many grandmas; it is better to collect trophies than papers.

“For memory, I sent afoshki home ... Wise parents received them, but I didn’t write that they didn’t need to be sent back! They regularly returned them to the unit. Of course, they didn't reach me. So, my whole collection went to dust, I wish I had eaten them.

“Oh, money, money… I remember that I paid one and a half Afghanis for each bulletproof wheel on an armored personnel carrier (and there are 8 of them!), This is with my nine rubles. And if I didn’t pay, I would have boarded all 8 after each trip. It's not to stand in the regiment for conservation. That the dushman does not shoot through, then you will run into the sleeve yourself. The first wheel puts her "on the butt", and the second ... But all the roads were strewn with them. Where did you get the money? No, you better answer: these wheels were supposed to be given to me just like that or what? Moreover, I bought myself machine-gun horns (45 rounds each), sneakers and mountain boots.

“... How to start fighting, to lead them and leave the battle, we knew perfectly well and without vested big stars officials from GlavPUR, we were all taught this for a long time and systematically throughout our previous service. Much more military personnel at that moment were interested in what to do with the “red” checks of Vneshposyltorg issued to us the day before in huge quantities, for which all officers and ensigns were forced to close their bank accounts? To this we received an exhaustive and satisfying answer to all of us then with a pat on the admiral's chest and a promise to throw our honor as a sea wolf to the dogs for reproach if he misleads us ... The fact is that in the Union at that time a big campaign began to stop circulation of the "second currency", as the media called the checks of Vneshposyltorg, and all the "progressive forces" of the country unanimously demanded the closure of the Beryozka stores, where they were traded ... By our arrival in the USSR, our "wrappers" were no longer available to anyone needed, all the servicemen were forced to close the bank books where they were stored even earlier, and the checks issued back in the RA for them on Kushka were simply exchanged for rubles at a ratio of 1 to 1.

“... Goods that are in demand are exported from the Union to the territory of Afghanistan. There they are sold for afghani, and this money is used to buy goods that are in great demand in the USSR. This turnover gave tenfold welding! If we bought for 100 thousand - it turned out a million. Food products were usually imported: food was bad in Afghanistan, but money was running low... I can say that we literally completely renovated the customs service several times, sending many customs officers to "places not so remote." However, such large bribes were given that although they knew that the predecessor was there, they took it. The mind was blown away when they give 100,000 rubles! However, an ordinary customs officer, as a rule, was offered 10,000 rubles for a single shipment.

“Brokers in Tashkent in 1985 gave two rubles for a check, and in Moscow - three and a half. Taxi drivers near Tuzel are borzels, bitches. Carried for checks one to one. They knew when the pay-off point was closed, but we didn't have Soviet rubles. For twenty checks in the military, a ticket for any flight, no problem!”

“Somehow in Kunduz, in December 1981, out of boredom, they began to count how much Afghan costs the Union. The people are literate: the political officer of the battalion is with us. Of course, according to available sources, approximately, but the list is long. And the result is deadly, something like ten million rubles. At that time - astronomy, not economics!

Seriously earn in the war in Afghanistan could, as in the Great Patriotic War, only senior officers. From Afghanistan, they took out imported audio and video equipment and other valuable items in large quantities.

"Chekists" who took risks and sat out

According to the recollections of those who served in Afghanistan, privates and sergeants received every month from 9 to 12 rubles in checks (sometimes - 20 rubles). It was not even money, but their equivalent, which was in circulation mainly with the "contingent". For such banknotes, it was possible to purchase only some trifle necessary in a soldier's life - like toothpaste, brushes or thread-needles. However, the "grandfathers" shamelessly took away from the "young" even these insignificant funds, expressed in a kind of currency.

A wounded soldier or sergeant could count on monetary compensation for a maximum of 200-300 rubles, depending on the number and nature of the wounds. “Kurki” (those whose activities were associated with the daily risk of participating in hostilities) and “specialists” (KGB and GRU instructors) received within 100 rubles. Most check currency circulated among the officers. Checks of Vneshposyltorg could be bought in the military department of the 40th army stationed in Afghanistan, or until 1989 in the currency "Birches", where dubious operations with checks had a multi-thousand scale.

Checks were forged and changed

A significant part of the salary of officers and ensigns who served in Afghanistan was paid by checks. In terms of the then dollar exchange rate (60 kopecks per dollar), the check cost several times more. By issuing allowances to Soviet Afghan servicemen, the state shamelessly deceived them, since when the checks were exchanged for rubles, the real amount of salaries was significantly reduced.

In the USSR, there was a black market, where the cost of an Afghan check reached 3.5 rubles. By the end of the Afghan campaign, senior officers of the Soviet Army could earn up to 500 checks, and this was only part of their allowance. Checks were stamped with numbers. Their bearers had to be shown military tickets, passports and other identification documents in order to confirm the authenticity of payment documents. Despite these precautions, Afghan checks were constantly counterfeited and bought up by speculators and smugglers.

What could be purchased with a check in Afghanistan

Cheating with checks was a lucrative business. An officer who had the amount in the checks, corresponding to a quarter of the cost of the Volga, could buy a car out of turn. At the time, this was a significant incentive.

Afghan checks were in denominations ranging from 100 rubles (big money by Soviet standards) to a penny. A box of matches or an unmarked envelope cost a penny. In Afghanistan, checks were sold only in Voentorg. In principle, they could be exchanged for the local currency at the rate of one check to 10-16 afghani.

Soldiers and sergeants had little understanding of this payment system, and officers and warrant officers made money on checks - they speculated with them, they transported them to the Union. Customs officers were also involved in this scheme, they, of course, also received their profits. Nevertheless, by the time the Soviet troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan, the check had devalued and was equivalent to the ruble.

Whoever could, took out imported audio and video equipment, carpets and other valuables from Afghanistan. It was also possible to make money on this in the USSR in the era of total shortages.

Seriously earn in the war in Afghanistan could, as in the Great Patriotic War, only senior officers. From Afghanistan, they took out a large number of imported audio-video equipment and other valuables.

"Chekists" who took risks and sat out

According to the recollections of those who served in Afghanistan, privates and sergeants received every month from 9 to 12 rubles in checks (sometimes - 20 rubles). It was not even money, but their equivalent, which was in circulation mainly with the "contingent". For such insignificant banknotes, which are a kind of currency, it was possible to purchase only some trifle necessary in a soldier's life - like toothpaste, brushes or thread-needles. However, the "grandfathers" shamelessly took away from the "young" even these modest means.

A wounded soldier or sergeant could count on monetary compensation in the amount of a maximum of 200-300 rubles, depending on the number and nature of the injuries. “Kurki” (those who participated in the hostilities and whose life was associated with everyday risk) and “specialists” (KGB and GRU instructors) received within 100 rubles. Most check currency circulated among the officers. Checks of Vneshposyltorg could be redeemed at the Voentorg of the 40th Army stationed in Afghanistan, or until 1989 in the currency "Birches", where dubious transactions with checks brought thousands of dollars in income.

Checks were forged and changed

In the USSR, there was a black market, where the cost of an Afghan check reached 3.5 rubles. By the end of the Afghan campaign, senior officers of the Soviet Army could earn up to 500 checks, and this was only part of their allowance. Checks were marked with stamps with numbers. Their bearers had to be shown military tickets, passports and other identification documents in order to confirm the authenticity of payment documents. Despite these precautions, Afghan checks were constantly counterfeited and bought up by speculators and smugglers.

What could be purchased with a check in Afghanistan

Cheating with checks was a lucrative business. An officer who had the amount in the checks, corresponding to a quarter of the cost of the Volga, could buy a car out of turn. At that time it was a serious incentive.

Afghan checks were in denominations ranging from 100 rubles (big money by Soviet standards) to a penny. A box of matches or an unmarked envelope cost a penny. In Afghanistan, checks were sold only in Voentorg. In principle, they could also be exchanged for the local currency at the rate of one check to 10–16 afghani.

Soldiers and sergeants had little understanding of this settlement system, and officers and warrant officers made money on checks - they speculated with them, they transported them to the Union. In the latter case, customs officers were often involved in the case, who, of course, received their profits. Nevertheless, by the time the Soviet troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan, the check had devalued and was equivalent to the ruble.

Whoever could, took out imported audio-video equipment, carpets and other valuables from Afghanistan. It was also possible to make money on this in the USSR in the era of total shortages.

For 10 years of the Afghan war, 620 thousand Soviet military personnel visited the territory of the republic. As in any hostilities, personnel who had been "beyond the river" (the border passed along the Amu Darya River, beyond which the territory of hostilities had already begun), received an increase in salary.

During his stay in Afghanistan, the head of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces, Nikolai Ogarkov, ordered the commander of the Turkestan military district to pay officers and ensigns the second salary in Soviet rubles according to the staffing table and for the rank. Income tax is not charged on the second salary. In addition, monetary allowance was established in the checks of Vneshposyltorg (VPT). In a month, ensigns and junior officers received 100 rubles in checks, senior officers and generals - up to 150 rubles. Private and non-commissioned officers did not receive maintenance in Soviet rubles, and in checks it was 4-8 rubles.

VPT checks were purchased in Voentorg stores in Afghanistan or in Beryozki in the USSR. Checks were in denominations from 1 kopeck to 100 rubles. It was possible to exchange them for afghani at the rate of 1 check for 10-15 afghani, but the military preferred to bring checks to the USSR, and not the Afghan currency - it had no purchasing power in the Soviet Union. However, in January 1989, Beryozki was closed and checks were exchanged by military treasurers for Soviet rubles 1: 1.

During the war, the salary increased steadily. In 1981, junior officers in the DRA received about 180 VPT checks per month, senior officers - 250. By the end of the Afghan campaign, payments had almost doubled. For 7 checks in the military trade shop, you could buy a toothbrush, paste and shoe polish, or two kilograms of tangerines from the locals.

Numbered stamps were put on checks of denominations of 50 and 100, in Beryozki they demanded military tickets from buyers, often already at the entrance, especially at the checkout. In the fight against smugglers and speculators, wide red stripes and formidable inscriptions about a special purpose for military trade appeared on the checks. It did not help: on the black Soviet market, checks went at the rate of 1 for 3.5 rubles in Soviet money. This was almost equal to the unofficial dollar exchange rate (the official one was 63-67 kopecks per $1). There were also craftsmen who forged the checks of the VPT, but they were quickly exposed and imprisoned.

For 2 years of service in Afghanistan, a junior officer could save up money for a Zhiguli, and a senior officer for a Volga (at the state price). In 1982 - 1985, "Lada", depending on the brand, cost 5500 - 8340 rubles. Vaz-2121 ("Niva") could be bought, after the price reduction under Andropov, for 9800 rubles. "Volga" GAZ-24 cost 12,000 - 16,480 rubles. If an officer could pay a quarter of the cost of the Volga with checks, he would buy a car out of turn, and it usually took several years to wait for a purchase.

Officers bought Japanese watches and consumer electronics in Afghan stores, reselling them at exorbitant prices in the Union. Although for all 10 years there was a strict ban on the purchase of goods in local dukans. Everything that was not purchased at Voentorg could be seized legally. The officers were practically not examined, unlike the soldiers, who had a chance to part with the purchase in the unit, at the transit point or at customs. Voentorg offered, among other things, sports suits, “diplomats”, tape recorders from Japan and Germany, carpets: a terrible shortage at that time.

In addition to checks, the military also received a double salary. By military rank the allowance was: lieutenant - 120 rubles; captain - 140 rubles; major - 150 rubles; lieutenant colonel - 160 rubles; colonel - 180 rubles. Payment for the position: platoon commander - 110 rubles; companies (batteries) - 120 rubles; battalion (division) - 140 rubles; shelf - 160 rubles. Seniority bonus: 10% for the first two years of service, 5% for every subsequent 5 years, but not more than 25% in total.

There are different estimates of the cost for the USSR of the war in Afghanistan. It is estimated that more than 30 billion rubles were spent from 1984 to 1987. Marshal Sergei Akhromeev called 36.7 billion over 10 years. The war took up to 3% of the country's annual GDP.