Economic transformation disparity in European post-Soviet countries in the period of transformation

ENAccording to the two GDP indicators the assessed spatial diversification of the wealth status in the analysed societies is similar. The most significant difference is the worse economic situation of the residents of Estonia and Moldova when applying gross domestic product per capita based on purchasing power parity (PPP), as compared to gross domestic product per capita (constant 2000 US$), which results, above all, from the relatively high prices of goods and services in these countries. We can also clearly see that the life standard of the populations in Moldova, Ukraine and partially Russia (measured according to gross domestic product per capita based on purchasing power parity (PPP)) were at the end of the analysed period worse than at the time of disintegration of the Soviet Union. Thus, we could state that society in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania benefited from the disintegration of the USSR whereas the residents of the remaining countries either benefited marginally or even lost in terms of prosperity. Due to the size of the country there are big regional differences in terms of wealth status in the case of Russia. No doubt Kaliningrad Oblast is a beneficiary of these changes as it takes on its new role “bridging” the European Union with the Russian Federation (see B. П. Гутник, А. П. Клемешев (eds.), 2006; А. П. Хлопецкий, Г. М. Федоров, 2000). Unfortunately, the economic crises today showed that the economic success of Baltic Assembly States had in part rather feeble foundations and the near future should verify the optimistic assessments of growing wealth of its inhabitants.