Parallel to the economic growth and the increase of the living standards in the Eastern bloc the import requirements of its member countries are rising, too. For this reason all Western industrial nations make increasing efforts to establish themselves in these markets with good future prospects...

The trade of the Western industrial states with Eastern Europe has been the object of keen political interest in the past year or two although it accounts for no more than 5–6 p.c. of the total foreign commerce of the OECD countries. The current discussion about the future of the economic...