Today anyone can buy gear at Voentorg
The history of the modern store Voentorg Kyiv, whose assortment includes military equipment, uniforms, weapons and related goods, dates back about a hundred years. The first retail outlets supplying food to military personnel and equivalent persons appeared in the Soviet Union in 1918. Stores were first opened in Kyiv, Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Later, the geography of the Voentorg network included cities such as Voronezh and Penza, Yekaterinburg and Rostov-on-Don. The number of stores grew rapidly. They were managed by partnerships and cooperatives. They independently decided what range of goods would be presented on the shelves. They also regulated pricing. In 1930, the Voentorg store network was completely liquidated. Both large retail outlets and small shops closed.
They started talking again about the need to create a separate trade network for the military five years later. Then, in 1935, the status of Voentorg was established at the federal legislative level. They were subordinate to main departments that reported to the State Bank of the Soviet Union. With the onset of the war, the number of retail outlets increased. In the 1940s, they were served by more than thirty thousand people. In the post-war period, the number of branches reached five thousand stores.
Voentorgs also conducted foreign trade. Such outlets were located in border areas with Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Mobile trade stalls opened everywhere along the front line, which were subordinate to the command of the military unit under which they operated. In such stores, soldiers were sold, in addition to food and tobacco, clothing, stationery and writing supplies, and basic necessities.
After the end of World War II, such front-line branches were abolished. Voentorg stores remained only in large populated areas. The next major reorganization of the Voentorg store network occurred in the 1990s. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, retail outlets passed into private hands. Many of them were closed, and those that managed to survive the competition abandoned the outdated format of trade.
Today, the online Voentorg is trading, which has significantly expanded the range of products offered. The network is no longer closed and accessible only to military personnel, and anyone can make a purchase at Voentorg.