Playboy in Moscow? O.C. Firm Says ‘Da!’

HUNTINGTON BEACH —  English-speaking tourists and business people visiting the Soviet Union this summer will find some familiar reading material: National Geographic, Rolling Stone, Playboy and 23 other U.S. magazines have hit some Soviet newsstands and bookstores.

Soviet American International Co., a U.S.-Soviet joint venture 49%-owned by Unicorn Investments International in Huntington Beach, said Thursday that it has begun distributing the U.S. magazines at 14 locations.

The joint venture, also known as Sovaminco and 51%-owned by the Soviet government, signed an agreement with New York-based Worldwide Media Distributors in March to sell the magazines, which also include popular sports, fashion and computer publications.

“This is the first time that these American magazines have been legitimately sold in the Soviet Union and available in Soviet newsstands,” Worldwide Media President Lee Selverne said.

Until 1986, Soviet law banned the circulation or possession of Western publications. Among the few U.S. publications that have been available in the Soviet Union are Newsweek magazine and USA Today newspaper.

“At least there’ll be something to do at night or between those business negotiations with Soviet government agencies,” said Martin Lopata, chairman of both Unicorn and Sovaminco. “There are no bars or restaurants open after 10 p.m. in most hotels. There’s nothing to do or read because everything’s in Russian.”

Beside Moscow, the magazines will also be on sale in the cities of Leningrad, Riga and Kiev. They will be sold at selected tourist hotels and bookstores including the Soviet Union’s largest bookstore, Dom Kniga--House of Books--in Moscow, Selverne said.

Lopata said the joint venture expects to be selling 43 different magazine titles at 14 Sovaminco newsstands and shops by the end of 1990.

“This week, National Geographic goes on sale for the first time in the Soviet Union,” he said. “Starting in August, Le Monde (the French daily newspaper) and the (International) Herald Tribune will be available for door-to-door delivery in Moscow.”