Soviets Open Commodities Exchange : Reforms: A wide range of items, including sought-after IBM computers, are traded.

A small crowd of Soviet businessmen, struggling to master the art of Western-style market capitalism, began trading today at the first commodities exchange to open here since the Bolshevik Revolution.

For two hours, about 200 businessmen representing cooperatives and state-owned enterprises bought and sold commodities ranging from construction materials to paint brushes and computer software.

It was run like an auction. Two men perched on a podium shouted prices as the traders standing below timidly raised their hands to bid for the commodities.

“We would like to operate like the Chicago commodities exchange,” said Gennady Poleshuk, co-chairman of the Moscow exchange. “But we are starting from the beginning. We are 200 years behind.”

Among the first items on the block were prestigious U.S.-made IBM computers that sold for tens of thousands of rubles.

The Moscow exchange--the boldest attempt yet to steer the country toward a market-driven system--opened amid heated debate in the Soviet Parliament over a radical plan to transform the moribund economy and public pressure for the government to take drastic measures.

Managers of state enterprises that exceed their production quotas are permitted to sell goods at the commodities exchange, while cooperatives are allowed to sell goods outright.

“This exchange allows us to learn what prices the market will bear,” said Alexander Belyaev, a cooperative owner.

“In the Soviet Union, it is difficult to get information about prices. Here, the price is set according to what someone will pay for it,” he said.

The exchange initially will operate once every two weeks and then open one day a week beginning in October, officials said. To engage in trading, participants are required to put up 100 rubles ($177).