I got the below cup from a friend who got it in Russia 1995. According to him, all the people there were desperately trying to sell all their stuff so they could get enough money to eat. I searched on the internet four many hours and couldn't find anything like this, though I'm not at all experienced at researching. I am wondering who manufactured it and, if anyone could, give me a rough estimate for how much it is worth. My friend payed the equivalent of $40 for an entire tea set of this stuff.
I know this may not help with that particular mark, but watching Antiques Roadshow, an older lady talked about some lapel pins she'd gotten from the Russias who had sold them to survive, just like in your story. You might want to check the episode. It was the BBC edition, and it's July 2010, so it aired this month, (within the last week of this post)...and they have archives sometimes of footage. If that's the story, the idea is, it could be worth a lot more than $40. The appraiser said that Russian antiques with this sort of provonance are really collectible right now. Pretty neat find! Gorgeous lusterware, as I would guess it's called. Hope someone helps you!