War is very expensive and all the economies in Eastern Europe felt the effects. In Russia Mikhail Gorbachev was elected as the first president. He wanted to restructure the economy and economic policy. He saw a market economy more responsive to consumers. It would have limited free enterprise so that some businesses would be privately owned and operated. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev resigned and gave his position to Boris Yeltsin his commander-in-chief. Yeltsin was committed to introducing a free market economy quickly. This change did not come easily and many economic hardships and social disarray were made worse by a dramatic rise in organized crime. At the end of 1999 Vladimir Putin was elected president. He launched reforms to boost growth and budget revenues. This included the free sale and purchase of land and tax cuts. In spite of this, the business climate remained uncertain, which stifled foreign investment. Since his reforms Russia has had a budget surplus and a growing economy. Much of this is credit to Russia's oil and gas exports.
Russia's economy since the fall of the Soviet Union
Two other countries to feel this economic change were Poland and the Czech Republic. After their revolution, Poland elected a new president, who introduced free-market reforms. His successor continued Poland's move toward an increasingly prosperous free-market economy. Recent presidents have stressed the need to combine modernization with tradition.
A market in Poland
After the Czechoslovakian revolution, the people elected a president. It was under the second president, Vaclav Klaus that the Czech Republic has flourished. The Czech Republic has become one of the most prosperous economies of the all the post-Communistic Eastern European nations.
The Czech Republic became very successful economically after the fall of Communism in it government.
The Cold War made many economic problems for all the people involved in the war. Russia had a lot of economic challenges after the war. When Mikhail Gorbachev was elected president, he preached about the need for radical reforms. These reforms would restructure the economy. The economic policy he was envisioning was to have limited free enterprise. This would allow some businesses to be privately owned and operated. But to do this he would have to set political reforms as well. This would mean reconstructing the entire government.
Russia was transformed after Mikhail Gorbachev took power.
After Mikhail Gorbachev resigned in 1991, Boris Yeltsin took command of Russia. He wants to introduce a free market as fast as possible, but this was not easy. Economic hardships were made worse. After Yeltsin resigned Vladimir Putin was elected. He launched reforms to boost growth and tax cuts. But the business climate remained uncertain, which stifled foreign investment.