Trade was particularly important to the economy, as Bulgaria lay between the Byzantine Empire, Central Europe, the Rus' and the steppes. Trade relations with the Byzantine Empire were regulated on a most favoured nation basis by treaties that included commercial clauses. The first such treaty was signed in 716 and provided that goods could only be imported or exported when embossed with a state seal. Goods without documents were to be confiscated for the state treasury. The Bulgarian merchants had a colony in Constantinople and paid favourable taxes. The relevance of international trade for Bulgaria was evident, as the country was willing to go to war with the Byzantine Empire when, in 894, the latter moved the market of the Bulgarian traders from Constantinople to Thessaloniki, where they had to pay higher taxes and did not have direct access to goods from the east. In 896 Bulgaria won the war, restoring its status as a most favoured nation and lifting the commercial restrictions. Some Bulgarian towns were very prosperous—e.g., Preslavets on the Danube, described in the 960s as more prosperous than the capital of the Rus', Kiev. A contemporary chronicle lists the main trade partners and chief imports to Bulgaria. The country imported gold, silks, wine and fruits from the Byzantine Empire, silver and horses from Hungary and Bohemia, furs, honey, wax and slaves from the Rus'. There were commercial ties with Italy and the Middle East as well.