ABSTRACT
The value of promised Soviet assistance exceeded initial expectations with the disclosure that the Soviet Union had granted the equivalent of $1.3 billion in aid to extricate Poland from its economic difficulties in the form of raw materials, fuel, and credits in hard currency. Soviet regional practice features three principal types of credit deals: investment credits to pay for industrial equipment and technical aid, commodity credits to pay for the purchase of industrial raw materials, foodstuffs, and other goods, currency credits. The Soviet Union's first hard currency credit to Hungary dates to October 4, 1956, when the two countries concluded an agreement whereby the USSR undertook to provide economic assistance to Hungary. Poland's Communist regime obtained a currency credit from its soviet partner very early in the game. The picture changes dramatically in the sixties and the focus then shifts to the themes of regional rapprochement, organized pooling of resources, expanded cooperation and technical specialization, and the like.
