RESTRUCTURING OF TRADITIONAL FARMS AND NEW LAND RELATIONS IN RUSSIA

Under decrees defining the Russian program of land reform and farm restructuring from 1991 to early 1993, 46% of agricultural land in Russia was transferred from state to collective ownership; 80% of collective and state farms reorganized and most registered as shareholding structures. The number of independent private farmers exceeded 250 000 in early 1995. Despite these changes, however, most farms reorganized as whole entities and members kept their land and asset shares in collective production. The paper reports the results of a survey undertaken in 1992/1993 of 2700 farm managers, farm employees, and private farmers in Russia, designed to elucidate changes at the farm level during the early stage of land reform and farm restructuring.