Restructuring of Food Industries in the Five Central and Eastern European Front-Runners Towards EU Membership

This paper discusses the main elements of the present operation of the main food industries in the CEEC-5 from a structural point of view and places these elements in the context of EU membership. The main structural aspects addressed in the paper are i) privatisation and restructuring; ii) significance of foreign direct investment (FDI); and iii) market structure and conditions of competition. In analysing the results of privatisation, we attempt to link the method of privatisation and its potential effects on the future performance of the enterprises. One immediate impact of privatisation is whether it favours or deters FDI. The analysis of FDI in the food industry is an obvious element of such a paper since it is widely known, and already observed in the case of the countries in transition, that it profoundly affects the conduct and performance of the enterprises which receive it. The analysis of the industrial structures is meant to provide a guide to better predict the future performance of the enterprises of the CEEC-5 when immersed in the EU single market