FOREIGN CAPITAL INFLOWS IN CENTRAL AND EAST EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

Free cross-border movement of goods and capital correlates with the general economic state of a country in both apparent and subtle ways. The intensity of financial and economic interactions with the outside world is an indicator of the sustainability and efficiency of the national economy. After joining the EU, all Member States liberalized the balance of payments (BoP), i.e. ensured free and unrestricted cross-border movement of goods and capital. For certain countries the liberalization of BoP was a considerable challenge, which they managed to successfully overcome. These were the EU countries of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) was active among the former socialist countries until 1990, or the so-called "CMEA-EU countries". For an economic comparison to be plausible, it has to be made between the dynamics of comparable economies. Such a group of economies is formed by the CMEA-EU countries. EU membership provided them with the opportunity to use on their own their potential in property, intellect, power and resources. This is the reason why the present study has adopted a comparative analysis based on CMEA-EU countries. An attempt has been made to comprehensively monitor and analytically assess all major financial flows, especially in the CMEA-EU countries, and their impact on economic dynamics. A comparison is made for both the positive and negative aspects of the incoming financial resources in these countries. Particular emphasis is placed on macroeconomic elements and policies that outline, create conditions, and predetermine the scale, interactions and projections of cross-border financial flows.

Chairman cotton: Socialist Bulgaria’s cotton trade with African countries during the early Cold War (1946–70)

This article follows Bulgarian officials engaged in cotton and textile exchange with African states in the early Cold War. These officials founded enterprises for carrying out transactions, collected information on prices at international cotton exchanges and attended meetings of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) to coordinate trade activities in capitalist markets. Exploring how Bulgarian foreign trade organizations positioned themselves on the scene of international trade, this article argues that cotton traders, instead of upholding the supposed bloc bipolarity of the Cold War, followed the logic of the markets they worked in. A focus on trade infrastructures in particular shows that early Cold War East–South trade was not as strictly bilateral as official agreements and statistics suggest and reveals the systematic embeddedness of the socialist traders’ practices in global capitalist structures. In the field of cotton, the globalizing economy of the early Cold War was not cut in half, as globalization studies have implied.

The Socialist Countries, North Africa and the Middle East in the Cold War: The Educational Connection

This article revisits the Eastern Bloc's educational assistance provided to North Africa and the Middle East during the Cold War. It highlights the political and economic premises, interests and policies at play, and investigates the role of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance. It examines the creation of schools in North Africa and the Middle East and the training of students in the socialist countries. The article argues for the centrality of education in the international policy of the Eastern Bloc, further demonstrating its importance in the political economy of the relations with the countries of North Africa and the Middle East.

“Routes of Friendship”: Organization of International Tourism in Countries of Socialist Camp in 1950-1980s

The institutional foundations, organizational features, the main trends and problems of cooperation between European member states of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) in the field of international tourism in the second half of the 1950s — 1980s are described in the article. Specific examples show the formula for building bilateral cooperation in this area, as well as organizational principles and main directions of work of special annual meetings of tourist operators and government agencies in the field of tourism. Particular attention is paid to the description of the mechanisms of mutual settlements between socialist countries for the rendered mutual tourist services, including in a non-currency form. Based on the analysis of publications of the Soviet period and archival sources, the author concluded that syncretism of economic, economic and ideological approaches was characteristic of large-scale international tourist exchange between European socialist countries, and the Soviet Union played not so much the role of a “big brother” with a decisive vote as an ideological “mentor”. It is emphasized that, despite the declaration of the systemic advantages of “socialist tourism”, in general, it was characterized by numerous organizational difficulties.

Węgiel w polsko-radzieckich stosunkach gospodarczych

Polish coal played an important role in economic relations between the People's Republic of Poland and the USSR. Its resources constituted an important element of the Soviet policy towards Poland. In 1946–1953, the forced deliveries of black fuel were a kind of donation. The Soviet authorities explained them with losses in war reparations as a result of the transfer of German lands on the Oder and Nysa Łużycka to Poland, with rich coal resources in Silesia. The Soviet Union also did not refrain from taking over some of the Polish coal deposits as a result of the forced correction of the borders in the east in 1951. Deliveries of "reparative" coal at lower prices brought Poland serious financial losses and inhibited the development of economic relations with Western countries. The export of coal under trade agreements concluded from 1945 was also economically unfavorable. The Soviet authorities imposed both excessive quotas and difficult financial conditions. From 1949, for this purpose, they used the price and exchange rate mechanism applied by the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance. Only in the 1960s did it become beneficial for Poland, and in the following decades it brought losses. The export of coal to the USSR, which in the 1980s amounted to 30% of total exports, caused a deficit of fuels on the domestic market, made it difficult to use the existing economic potential and maintain an adequate standard of living of the population. The political transformation after 1989, which introduced market regulations to foreign trade, led to the collapse of coal exports to the USSR.

From Reserve Currencies to Reserves of Critical Goods: Designing a New BRICS International Currency

Currently, there is a need for reform of global monetary circulation and credit, which in a sense has stalled. The key is to restore the connection between monetary circulation and real production. In the first part of this study, I provide a brief analysis of the catastrophic consequences that the current design of reserve currencies has led to for the world economy. At the same time, the transition from the dollar to other reserve currencies operating on the same principles, the ethos of which is now being actively promoted in the West, will not improve the situation. In the second part, I demonstrate the efforts being made to de-dollarize settlements by both the BRICS, the EU, and the EAEU countries. The third part shows the successful historical experience of the transferable ruble as an international currency that functioned in 1960-1980 on non-discriminatory principles within the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA). In the fourth part, the international currencies already functioning in the world are described, as well as some existing proposals for the introduction of new international currencies. I argue that reliable physical access to reserves in basic food and medicines in controlled warehouses is becoming a matter of great importance. The transition is necessary from the ideology of reserve currencies to the ideology of reserves of critical goods. Such an incentive of a new BRICS currency on the demand side will be food and healthcare security. On the supply side, for all states that have established a currency, there should be a clear vision of how they can develop their exports using this currency. In order to secure currency, such goods must be pledged to international BRICS warehouses that correspond to the main export directions of the project countries and/or are critical for their import. These are basic foods such as grains, then medicines, fuel and energy resources, and metals.

Establishment of Cooperation Between the SFRY and the COMECON in 1964

This article analyzes the motives for establishing cooperation between Yugoslavia and the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON). The course of the negotiations is shown, as well as, the conclusion of the Agreement on Yugoslavia’s participation within the organs of the COMECON. The paper is based on unpublished documents from the archives of the Republic of Serbia and the Russian Federation, as well as other relevant literature