The study is organized in the three sections following the introduction, by which Section I reviews the economic performance of the five Balkan countries - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, and Serbia and Montenegro - with a focus on international trade. A discussion follows...

Before the current economic crisis hit the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region in 2008, energy security was a major source of concern in Central and Eastern Europe and in many of the economies in the former Soviet Union. Energy importers were experiencing shortages leading to periodic brownouts...

It is very likely that an energy crunch could hit several countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECA) in the next five or six years. Before the financial crisis of 2008, several electricity importing countries in the region had begun to experience difficulties with supply; however, the...

The cost of energy in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, as elsewhere, is an important policy issue, as shown by the concerns for energy affordability during the past harsh winter. Governments try to moderate the burden of energy expenditures that is experienced by households through subsidies to...

This paper sets out a strategic framework for WBG assistance for the modernization of agro-food systems in client countries. The objective of this strategy is to enhance the competitiveness of food, feed, and fiber systems-as a powerful source of growth and income generation-and to do so in a...

This report shows that trends in farm mechanization are attributable to differing approaches to reform and differing agricultural resource endowments. The level of reform determines the pattern and extent to which labor and capital change, with land reform and commodity market liberalization as...