ABSTRACT
Investment by Soviet and East European commercial organisations in Western countries, through the medium of wholly- or partly-owned companies is a topic worthy of study for several reasons. First of all, it is important to estimate the range and size of these activities in both individual countries and in global terms, in view of the generally accredited importance of multinational activities in national and international policies. Secondly, it is possible to consider the time scale of development of these activities to compare them with the time scale of multinational operations by Western companies. Thirdly, it is interesting to view the success of these Western subsidiaries of Soviet and East European multinationals according to Western criteria, bearing in mind that the executives of these companies are operating in different political and economic conditions from those encountered in their domestic environment.
