Yep i went there early 90s and old ladies were standing in freezing cold selling anything.

street market... those are still common today in bulgarian cities... the law allows them to do this anywhere on the street, such a stark contrast to western nations now, where you have to pay a bazillion dollars to open up any market stall and there's a bazillion rules about what you can sell

very common in bulgarian towns the street market people sell eggs from their backyard chickens and bottles of yoghurt made from, often, milk from their relatives dairy cows

yes, it was poverty for these people because they became dependent on the government, taht's the whole point of pointing this out

they weren't allowed to work, and they barely were able to feed themselves and stay warm in their horrible, dingy apartments

it should be pointed out that they actually had title on those apartments too... they were at no risk of getting kicked out and they paid very little rent (just to the building body corporate for services)

i've seen how this works up close, it's not as bad as you might think, just look at how cold it is in that picture... imagine westerners coping with this level of poverty

russians, and all over eastern europe, adapted quickly to the end of communism, and these are literally a picture of the lowest tier of the markets