ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the character of the transformation of the Polish economy and the dilemmas. It discusses four issues: systemic changes taking place in Poland; ways of restructuring the economy; the state of the economy; and regional differences in the restructuring of the economy. The systemic transformation taking place in Poland as well as in other post-Communist countries is an exceptional phenomenon, especially in its economic aspect. The collapse of the Communist system in Poland in 1989 was preceded and determined by a number of events both on the domestic and international scenes. The systemic transformation has embraced both the main subsystems: political and economic. The implementation of the transformation in its second stage requires profound institutional reconstruction. The ultimate goal of government programmes of converting the old centrally planned economy into a market one was the institution of structural-organizational changes in the stagnating Polish economy as would modernize its key sectors.
