ABSTRACT
The years 1988–1989 marked a fundamental turning point for the former socialist Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries. In the other CEE countries, large cooperative and state farms almost completely dominated the agricultural sector. Hungary had a few highly efficient, large cooperative farms, while the large-scale agricultural enterprises in Russia and the Ukraine were generally less successful. Current transformation policy in most CEE countries fails to account for specific problems and conditions of rural areas. Population densities vary significantly across the CEE countries. Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and Czech Republic are more densely populated. In contrast, the successor states of the former Soviet Union are sparsely populated: most average fewer than 50 inhabitants per square kilometer. In many CEE countries, the adjustment process has led to widespread impoverishment of farmers and large shares of the rural population. Structural economic change in the CEE countries has increased social and economic differences between these countries and Western Europe even more.
