Exporting and restructuring in privatised firms from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus

Given the urgency of establishing the nature of enterprise restructuring and tracing the extent to which privatised firms are beginning to compete on world markets, this paper reports some initial findings from large-scale surveys of privatised firms, indicating their main features with particular attention to the extent of exporting and the factors which influence internationalisation. The paper compares developments in the internationalisation of enterprises in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, three countries with a common heritage as part of the former Soviet Union but with distinctive paths to transition. The paper begins with some background on the reform processes in the three countries, with particular attention to privatisation. This is followed by sections on the crucial role of internationalisation in the process of economic transition and the strategic actions associated with successful internationalisation. We identify firstly the required sequences in the 'need to change' with respect to economic transition and internationalisation. Secondly, we discuss enterprises' 'capacity to change' in terms of the impact of corporate governance regimes on the adoption of restructuring strategies. After these conceptual issues, the rest of the paper is concerned with empirical observation. First, the industrial surveys are described. Next, their main findings are reported in relation to restructuring and exporting. The short-lived nature of the reforms so far, together with the paralysing effect of general market collapse in the intervening years and problems in accessing data mean that it is still premature to present other than exploratory analyses of the factors influencing the development of exporting in these countries. A final section presents some conclusions and policy implications.