ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the volume of assistance earmarked for the East other than the former Soviet Union. It examines the various kinds of financial assistance from the west and provides brief evaluation of the western assistance effort. Humanitarian aid may be necessary to foster the transition process in its early stages. The major elements of the transition process require substantial injections of technical assistance and finance. The organization of foreign assistance for the Soviet Union and its successor states, except the Baltics, has evolved somewhat differently from that for other planned economies in transition. International assistance has been extended chiefly on a bilateral basis, without a coordinating structure comparable to the European Communities (ECs) and G-24 arrangements. Donor countries too may find it challenging to achieve effective internal coordination, interact with the ECs Commission and the recipient country, and assess the progress of their aid programs.
