It's a joke which we used to have about the "division of labor" within the socialist bloc. One country specialized in producing cars, the other in producing ovens, the other in producing wine, etc etc. It was almost like barter-trade: I give you an oven, you give me a car, etc. There were all kinds of "friendly" competitions within the bloc (like the above-mentioned Spartakiads), cultural exchange (also involving competition) and any other kind of simulated competition which was supposed to stimulate the better performance. It stimulated nothing but the number of puns and anecdotes like this one. That's probably why Google is helpless about this.
