With the elapse of more than 25 years since the end of the Cold War and the beginning of the shift from Soviet to market economies across central and eastern Europe (CEE), one topic keeps creeping up: the privatisation of state assets.
While it seems the process has largely come to a close in some countries – in EU member states such as the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia – for others, the process is far from over. In the ex-Yugoslav countries of Serbia and Slovenia, privatisation is very much on the agenda, with a large list of sales having been drawn up. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is supporting the privatisation programme and making efforts to encourage equity investments into the region – but challenges still remain to make the process worthwhile for countries and investors.