Contemporary Challenges and Future Perspectives of Structural Transformation in the Former Soviet Union and Its Satellites

Abstract

Abstract This chapter discusses the contemporary outlook of selected cases within the former Soviet Union (FSU) and its satellite countries to shed light on the regional outlook for patterns of industrialization. It outlines how patterns of industrialization and deindustrialization are determined by historical processes but also shaped by context-specific geopolitical conditions related to domestic assets, institutions, and resource endowments that vary within the post-Soviet space. The chapter discusses the intersectorial and intrasectorial challenges of transformation, focusing also on viable opportunities and constraints determined by both domestic and international factors. It then explores the current strategies of economic cooperation in the region. Finally, it concludes by highlighting the political contradictions that FSU countries must confront to effectively implement a sustainable process of structural transformation. The chapter ultimately contributes to systematizing the relation between theories of transition and structural transformation.