ABSTRACT
The restructuring of Estonian agriculture in the reforms was a mixture of many different ideas and approaches that had their roots in specific group interests. The pre-reform situation in Estonian agriculture was complicated. Estonian agriculture had the highest level of productivity in the USSR and the increasing production resulted in a rising level of wages. The period of political and economic transition in Estonia started with Gorbachev’s “perestroika.” The first political turning point was the Declaration of Independence, passed by the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR on 16 November 1988. The main goal and problem in the transition from a socialist to a market economy was establishing private ownership. This far-reaching reform was necessary, but serious, theoretical concepts or the experience for doing it without a sharp fall in production was not available. The Estonian agricultural reform was decentralised and in every village it was implemented by local leaders.
