A limping transition: the former Soviet Union thirty years on

The post-communist transition in the Soviet Union’s successor states has been discouraging in many ways. The foundations of market economies were put in place by the early 2000s but adopted policies and institutions have proved suboptimal and distortive in many countries. Overall, the region has demonstrated how economic and political transition are closely correlated, with the latter impacting strongly on the former. In particular, the autocratic drift in Russia has caused reversals in economic reforms and aggressive policies against its neighbours, culminating in the devastating war in Ukraine.

Table of Contents:

1. Uneven and discouraging transitions
2. The Soviet economic legacy
3. Macroeconomic stabilisation
4. Economic liberalisation
   1. Domestic liberalisation
   2. External liberalisation
   3. Economic integration
5. Privatisation
6. Institutions and governance
7. Results of systemic transformation: the growth record
8. Summary and conclusions