Restructuring of enterprises in Central-Eastern Europe and Central Asia in the era of transformation

Abstract

In 1991 a process of post-socialist transformation has begun together with the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and Central Asia. This process was chiefly about a transition from centrally planned economy to a free market. Individual countries were introducing economic reforms to a different degree and scope - some countries tried to catch up highly developed countries of the West (mainly the Central European states) more quickly, the others have chosen the path of slow modernization different from the western model of capitalism (the Central Asian states).This article aims to analyse the processes that take place in the corporate sector during the political changes in countries undergoing transitions from centrally planned economy to market economy. The analysis will employ an enterprise reform index (developed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) for the years between 1991-2009. These processes include both changes in ownership (privatization), and changes within a company (restructuring including assets, products, employment).In the analysed countries, restructuring processes were carried out differently - much faster in Central - Eastern Europe countries (Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Estonia, Hungary) than in the countries of Central Asia, where reforms were introduced slowly and on a much smaller scale (such as Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan).