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Central & Eastern Europe
The region that we term ‘Central & Eastern Europe’ in terms of defining what is an emerging market and what is a frontier market is open to great debate. Of course, the giant of the region is Russia which is firmly in the merging markets camp.
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Slovakia - has made significant economic reforms since its separation from the Czech Republic in 1993. Reforms to the taxation, healthcare, pension, and social welfare systems helped Slovakia consolidate its budget and get on track to join the EU in 2004 after a period of relative stagnation in the early and mid 1990s and to adopt the euro in January 2009. Major privatizations are nearly complete, the banking sector is almost entirely in foreign hands, and the government has helped facilitate a foreign investment boom with business friendly policies.
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Belarus - As part of the former Soviet Union, Belarus had a relatively well-developed industrial base. Since then, it has retained this industrial base - which is now outdated, energy inefficient and dependent on subsidised energy and preferential access to Russian markets. The country also has a broad agricultural base which is inefficient and dependent on government subsidies. After an initial burst of capitalist reform from 1991-94, including privatization of state enterprises, creation of institutions of private property, and development of entrepreneurship, Belarus' economic development has greatly slowed.
Ukraine - After Russia, Ukraine was the most important economic component of the former Soviet Union, producing about four times the output of the next-ranking republic. Shortly after independence in August 1991, the Ukrainian Government liberalised most prices and erected a legal framework for privatisation, but widespread resistance to reform within the government and the legislature soon stalled reform efforts and led to some backtracking.
In August 2010, Ukraine, reached an agreement with the IMF for USD 15.1 billion Stand-By Agreement. Economic growth resumed in 2010
and 2011, buoyed by exports, but slowed in 2012. After initial disbursements, the IMF program stalled in early 2011 due to the Ukrainian Government’s lack of progress in implementing key gas sector reforms, namely gas tariff increases.
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Romania – joined the European Union in 2007. As a result of the global financial crisis, Romania's GDP fell more than 7% in 2009, prompting Bucharest to seek a USD 26 billion emergency assistance package from the IMF, the EU, and other international lenders. The economy returned to positive growth in 2011 due to a strong export performance, but in a deflationary environment caused by bountiful crops and weak domestic demand
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