or Comecon
Organization founded in 1949 to facilitate and coordinate the economic development of Soviet-bloc countries.
Its original members were the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Romania; other members joined later, including Albania (1949) and the German Democratic Republic (1950). Its accomplishments included the organization of Eastern Europe's railroad grid, the creation of the International Bank for Economic Cooperation , and the construction of the "Friendship" oil pipeline. After the democratic revolutions of 1989, it largely lost its purpose and power. In 1991 it was renamed the Organization for International Economic Cooperation.