Authors

Discussion

The paper focuses on analysing the course of enterprise privatisation in Belarus. It juxtaposes the Belarusian and Estonian experiences. The similar size and nature of the economies at the time of the collapse of the USSR makes them interesting comparative case studies. At the same time both countries underwent a significantly different path of post-communism reforms.

Additional analytical material is provided by two short case studies of privatisation in the banking sector of both countries. In the case of Belarus, it is the privatisation of Priorbank, in the case of Estonia - Norther Estonian Bank.

Data from the annual "Transformation Reports" of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) were used for the empirical assessment. These include four variables: the percentage share of the private sector in GDP, the percentage share of the private sector in employment, the EBRD's small privatisation index and the EBRD's large privatisation index.

A comparison of the Belarusian and Estonian privatisation processes leads to the conclusion that the former is not systemic and is strongly constrained by the control of the Belarusian president. Despite external pressure and internal economic problems, Alexander Lukashenka maintains significant control over the economy. This indicates that the existing theoretical framework for describing property relations in Belarus is insufficient. A new research programme is required.