Business Week reports that German book publisher Bertelsmann is doing big business with its book clubs in Ukraine. Competitive pricing, a functioning postal system and a book-hugry market served by relatively few book stores have made Bertelsmann’s book clubs successful in the country that once was part of the Soviet Union.

Writes Business Week:

Optimism about the printed word is pretty rare these days. In fast-modernizing Ukraine, though, Bertelsmann is enjoying dot-com-like expansion for its book club, a category that’s a slow- or no-growth proposition in the U.S. and Western Europe. Family Leisure moved 12 million books last year—everything from cookbooks to local potboilers to Stephen King thrillers—while sales grew 55%, to $50 million. Today, Bertelsmann is Ukraine’s biggest bookseller, with 12% of the market. And the operation enjoys profit margins that are triple the 4% global average for similar Bertelsmann units, which include the Book-of-the-Month Club and Literary Guild in the U.S.