Trading Cola for Ships: Norwegian ship brokers...

Trading Cola for Ships: Norwegian ship brokers have cooked up a deal in which Soviet shipyards may build up to 85 new vessels worth nearly $2.6 billion that will be partly paid for in Pepsi, pizza and fried chicken. Ole-Jacob Libaek, who helped broker the deal, said the U.S. soft-drink giant Pepsi-Cola Co. wants to replace vodka as the medium of payment for millions of dollars in products it exports annually to the Soviet Union. Libaek said, “Pepsi Cola is very big in the Soviet Union and the Russians also want Pizza Huts and Kentucky Fried Chicken,” both owned by Pepsi. The Soviets “prefer to trade goods for goods because of their deficit of foreign currency,” he said.