Eastern Europe: Facts & Stats

ECONOMY

In late 1989 the countries of Eastern Europe broke loose from the Soviet Union, threw off communism, and began to construct democratic institutions and market-oriented economies. This great transformation is founded on the idea that freedom and prosperity can best be advanced by adopting the institutions and practices that have proven successful in Western Europe since World War II.

The people of the region want "to return to Europe." To do so, they plan to dismantle the remnants of the communist economic system and build market-oriented economies based on private ownership. While this is a daunting task, the transformation is well under way.

Industry:

Eastern Europe has been industrialized since the early to mid 20th century but suffered from contraction in the 1990s when the inefficient heavy industry based manufacturing sector crippled after the collapse of communism and the introduction of the market economy.

In the 21st century the manufacturing sector in Eastern Europe picked up because of the accession of Eastern European states to the EU and resulting accession to the European Common Market. This caused Western European firms to move jobs from their manufacturing sector to Eastern Europe, which sparked Eastern European industrial growth and employment.

Agriculture:

Agricultural restructuring in Eastern Europe is a part of the restructuring of the economy as a whole. After democratic changes, Eastern European countries have fallen into a deep crisis. There are several reasons for this, including the large debt burden, decreased export opportunities, and monetary restrictions. The major reasons, however, are the lack of a clear economic policy at the governmental level and lack of confidence in the future of enterprises. In the industry and service sectors, ownership conditions are uncertain, and this hinders investing from both private investors and managers of state owned enterprises.

An unambiguous situation can be created only by rapid privatization. Privatization is slow and difficult, however, and there is no agreement even on its form.

Research & Development:

Spending on R&D in Eastern Europe is paltry and unlikely to improve anytime soon. The reasons, according to a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit, are several, including too much reliance on the state versus private industry, stagnant innovation, and a perception amongst business persons that R&D is irrelevant. In Poland, less than 17 percent of that country's industrial firms designed or introduced one new product or innovation between 1998 and 2002.

Yet, there are some hopeful signs in places such as Czech Republic and Hungary. The Czech Enterprise is a combined effort by various state agencies to pool resources and provide grants to companies and universities with business partners interested in their projects. Hungary's National R&D Office oversees the state's involvement in research and administer the Research and Technology Innovations Fund.

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