In Quick Vote, Comecon Ends Long Alliance
BUDAPEST — Members of the Soviet-led trading bloc Comecon needed only 15 minutes Friday to terminate an organization that regulated trade among the former communist countries for 42 years.
The signing of a document formalizing the end of the organization “reflects the historical changes under way in the region,” said Bela Kadar, Hungary’s foreign trade minister.
He earlier welcomed representatives to what he termed “a short, but historically significant event.”
In a reflection of Comecon’s dwindling importance, only ministers--and in Vietnam’s case only the accredited ambassador--attended the session. They represented the Soviet Union, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Mongolia, Vietnam and Cuba.
Comecon, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, has existed in name only since member states switched to hard-currency accounting Jan. 1.
Sorting out Comecon’s financial and legal legacy will require three months. Delegates appointed a liquidation committee to appraise the value of Comecon property and decide its fate within 90 days, when the organization will legally cease to exist.
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