Economic Performance of Former USSR States Essay

Economic Performance of Former USSR States - Essay Example This discussion focuses on the economic performance of the former USSR states after independence and the economic relations between these countries as well as their trade, population, GDP growth, investments and debts. The essay highlights the GDP growth and economic performance of the countries like Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan, Russia and other nations which have recently gained independence and separated from the former Soviet Union. Despite having been a part of one of the greatest superpowers, these countries except Russia are no longer prominent on the world map. Since gaining independence these former Soviet states are becoming increasingly strong in terms of economic growth and performance with relations between the states growing even better. Yet there remain several issues that suggest that these countries will have to recreate and restructure their economic strategies to emerge as economically powerful as the more advanced economies. In this review, a co mparative analysis is provided showing economic growth and performance of the former Soviet states, their internal and external relations with neighboring countries and other former Soviet states as well as their comparative GDP and population growth. The objectives of the essay would be: 1. to identify the key players in post USSR countries 2.to discover the economic relations between the CIS countries and the level of their interdependency, and 3. to rank the major former Soviet states’ performance using country growth criteria. ... Considering the transient aspect of the former Soviet states' economy, Kalantaridis (2007) highlighted the role of entrepreneurs in shaping the nature of evolving institutions. The former Soviet nation states could still be considered as transient and evolving, although the permanence of such institutions is key to stability and economic growth. The post Soviet restructuring and reconstruction of political, social and economic systems have had considerable and differential impact on the economy. The more advanced economies of the post Soviet nation states that have now joined the European Union are economically stronger although countries which are further East have seen a decline in growth of gross domestic product followed by recession although with some gains to a wealthy minority (Edwards, 2006). The reason for the fall of GDP may be due to the significant necessity for restructuring, rise in costs, and privatization. Edwards (2006) distinguished between four groups of Soviet eco nomies2. The central and Eastern European accession states to the EU have open economies with better growth, more private sector involvement and foreign direct investments. The Balkan states of the South east European regions are marked by transitional recessions and worsened income inequality whereas Russia has implemented partial economic reforms. The remaining nation states have seen declining economic growth mainly due to fall of income. As Desai and Olopsgard have suggested, "popular support for market-oriented reform in transition economies rises and falls with unemployment and job creation" 3. Thus the implementation of market oriented reforms that would be imperative for economic