Rationale for the study and summary of findings; Ukraine: the country and its agriculture; Land reform legislation; The new private sector; Reorganization of farm enterprises; The effect of reorganization on farm employees; Market services and infrastructure; Rural social services and restructuring of the collective sector.
Agricultural reforms, including privatization of land and farm restructuring, are an important cornerstone for overall transformation of the economies of the former socialist world. This paper summarizes the current status of land reform in Moldova and shows how there has been clear progress in creating a market-based agriculture and food sector in Moldova. The results of this study indicate that genuine restructuring and transition to full-fledged private farming have resulted in improved profitability and higher incomes for private farmers than those achieved by traditional collectives.
This study summarizes the first five years (1991-96) of agrarian reforms in Ukraine, presenting the results of a farm-level survey conducted in 11 provinces between January and March 1996. The findings show that the growth of private farming has slowed do
"Restructuring has produced a definite favorable impact on labor relations and workers behavior in the reorganized farms. Managers of reorganized farm enterprises give a much more positive assessment of the behavioral patterns of their workers than managers of non-reorganized farms." Agriculture remains the main source of employment and livelihood for the large rural population of many transition countries, especially among the former Soviet republics. Accordingly the World Bank continuously monitors the progress of land reform and farm restructuring in the region because of the potential impact of these processes on rural development and poverty alleviation in rural areas. The present study on Ukraine is the latest addition to a long and growing series of World Bank publications on land reform and farm restructuring in the former socialist countries of Europe and Central Asia. The unique feature of all these publications is their reliance on first-hand empirical information collected through extensive farm surveys of various rural constituencies. Farm surveys have been conducted by the World Bank in many countries of the CIS (Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Georgia, Turkmenistan, Belarus) and Central and Eastern Europe (Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Albania). Analysis of survey findings enables the World Bank to base its policy dialogue with governments in the region on solid empirical facts, making the Bank's recommendation much more credible and relevant. The new findings for Ukraine will similarly provide a platform for useful policy discussions with this country's government and supply the many international donors active on the local scene with essential information for the design of their strategic programs.
"The government deficits that have played such a prominent role in Ukraine's continued economic decline reflect in large measure the fact that government has been slow to relinquish the role it played during the Soviet era." Since independence, Ukraine has suffered one of the most severe economic declines of any country in this century. While other transition countries in the region successfully replaced their old command economies with market economies, Ukraine continued to protect unprofitable enterprises to preserve employment and income levels. To support this strategy, the government has borrowed more money than it takes in and, at the same time, competes with private enterprise domestically for credit. As Ukraine's economic foundations proceed to crumble, the Ukrainian Government. the World Bank, and the International Center for Policy Studies in Kyiv examined the issues surrounding the crisis. The group analyzed the data and policy studies that were prepared by various Ukrainian and World Bank teams of experts and formulated recommendations for strategies to stem the growing tidal wave of economic collapse now threatening Ukraine. This report presents the issues that are creating these crises and outlines a course to prevent a crash. This report will be of interest to government agencies, economists, bankers, and academics.
This study on Turkmenistan is the latest addition to a long and growing series of World Bank publications on land reform and farm restructuring in the former socialist countries of Europe and Central Asia. The present report combines an analysis of the 1998 farm survey overview of general agricultural policies and sectoral performance. Survey results are preceded by a sectoral review and a description of emerging legal framework for land reform and farm restructuring.
This study presents the results of the multi-country study for farm debt in five Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries - Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, and the Ukraine. It offers a comparative analysis of the level and composition of farm debt in these countries and reviews the major reasons for farm debt accumulation in the 1990s.
Land reform is a key factor in determining the political, economic and social future of the transitional states of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. This book represents the first major study in this area. Utilizing extensive field work, unpublished materials, statistical data and interviews with land reform officials, the contributors explore the key issues.
- What has been achieved in rural finance and institutional reform during more than a decade of transition and what challenges remain? - What are the special needs of South Eastern European countries to attract agricultural credit and finance to ...
