At some point I was actually trying to help a friend in Poland to acquire a full-size bike for everyday riding, within a moderate budget. Any major restoration was out of question due to the limited time available on my part and limited skills of the friend. My leaning was towards a steel frame so that it would be a long-term acquisition. The paradox, that emerged, was that it was practically impossible to get a decent steel bike there, neither in shops that had second-hand bikes nor from craiglist type ads. Even new steel bikes were an astounding challenge, with possible astronomically priced orders, relative to local income, without any trial. This seemingly reflected the history of the bike market there.
Yes, when I arrived back in the 1990s getting anything could be difficult, and it was rather depressing seeing a random scatter of thermal wear as the clothing department of the premier store in the city. There were few people riding bikes in the city and the general opinion was it was too dangerous. Then around 2000-2005 bikes began to take off, with bicycle shops popping up everywhere, with Arkus and Kross beginning to pump out growing numbers of modern bikes. I have a Kross frame from about 2000 and, despite vigorous use, it is still in fine condition.
The trick to finding a bike, or anything interesting, here was to go against the grain, avoid listening to the people who said it could not be done, and just do it. That is how Arkus and Kross got started. On my scale I got a Romet Turing last weekend for doing nothing more than being interested, wifie and I were the first civilians to be shown around both the trolley bus and the normal bus depots because no one thought to ask before, and much much more.