how were copies of vinyl made in "third-party" countries

My wife being a professor of German history means we spend a lot of time in Berlin.  Love buying DDR records like on the Amiga and Eterna labels.  Not the best SQ but fun to see what they allowed.

To add a bit to the cacophony, in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, where you sometimes had the same performance available on Decca, London, and/or Angel labels, one always knew to seek out the British pressing over the US pressing. Same went for EMI vs Capitol.

I know a lot of audiophiles in Hungary, they swear by US LPs and CDs as if God created them. The grass is always greaner....

and I just looked: my 90s Hungarian LPs are absolute crap while 70s and 80s are delightful. So much for capitalism :)

I agree with the terrible quality of pressings which came from Russia and Czechoslovakia, same with their CDs.

I also look for the country of origin of the band and it's record label. There are so many UK albums with good SQ. I have also found that many German releases are superior to US, maybe it's better QC or they don't have the philosophy of cranking out product.

One more thought; I've found Decca pressings to be outstanding. I have an issue with the budget Angel releases, they sound like they were made with inferior masters. No resemblance to Decca or London.