Serbia on the Eve of Transition

Abstract

When the transition to a market economy and multiparty democracy was starting in 1989 in CEE, Serbia was still a constituent part of SFR of Yugoslavia, a federation composed of six republics — Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia with its two autonomous provinces Kosovo and Vojvodina, and Slovenia. At that time, the initial conditions in Serbia and the rest of SFR Yugoslavia were somewhat different than those in the CEE countries, primarily due to a longer tradition in market-oriented economic reforms and the country’s specific international relations. Serbia also had an important role within the Yugoslav federation, as it was the largest republic according to several important indicators.