Introduction

A “return to Europe” - in the economic context understood largely as an opening of the country towards trade and more economic contacts with the West - is high on the agenda in all post-communist countries. Among the bundle of specific problems related to the reform experience in Eastern Europe, a dominant role will undoubtedly fall to money, monetary and exchange rate policies. Despite many common problems and similarities in envisaged changes, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe show considerable differences in traditions, economic starting positions, external situations, and approaches to transition. A lesson from the Yugoslav experience for the Soviet Union strongly suggests that even the best drafted economic reform measures may not bring the desired effects, unless the political and nationalist conflicts can be solved. The Soviet Union shows that a country can land in a deep recession even without adopting any radical economic measures.