What is "gorbushka"

Gorbúshka is a marketplace for dealing in music, electronics and household equipment in Moscow, Russia.

Before the year 2001 the name "Gorbushka" referred to an open-air black market for software, music, videos and electronics. The market was in the city square by the Gorbunov Palace of Culture ( ДК имени Горбунова), hence the name. The term itself is an associative usage of an untranslatable Russian word for the first slice of a round loaf bread half-covered with bread crust and with the shape resembling a hump (Russian:горб). The word itself has many cultural associations in Russia.

The market dealt mostly in unlicensed music and software CDs, videos, gaming consoles with mod chips, as well as video games. Due to the copyright infringement issues Gorbushka was in sights of the government for a long time. The market closed in 2001.

In its place a more legal shopping center Gorbuskin dvor was opened. However, inexpensive unlicensed CDs/DVDs are still perfectly available in this new shopping center.