International shops, often called "Duty-free shops" or "Hard currency shops" (valyutnyy magazin) at one time were the main source of foreign products for Russians and an important source of foreign currency for the government. These shops sold a selection of imported goods and Russian souvenirs for hard currency only. Best known of these were the Russian state monopoly, "Beriozka Shops" (Birch Tree Shops) plus a few carefully watched foreign owned shops.

Times have changed! Rubles (and credit cards) rule! Now, virtually no shop (with one exception) takes dollars or foreign currencies in cash (credit cards are a different story).