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Logistics strategies for Central and Eastern

Europe

Grzegorz Augustyniak, Warsaw School of Economics

Introduction

The fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) at the turn of the 1990s began a fascinating period of systemic transition. This period of trans- formation has coincided with unprecedented economic integration in Europe that, on the one hand, creates enormous opportunities and advantages, but, on the other, needs great – often painful – changes. Since 2004, eight former Soviet-bloc countries have joined the European Union (the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia), another two (Bulgaria and Romania) may join the EU in 2007 and most of the remaining ones strive to do so in the future. Both the new members of the Community and the candidates must follow or adapt quickly to EU standards at a time of slow economic growth in Western Europe, and intense compe- tition resulting from globalization and the lifting of trade barriers within WTO member countries. The scale of changes in CEE countries, inherited gaps in infrastructure and limited access to financial resources make the implemen- tation of logistics strategy – or any strategy – in this region very difficult.

When analysing the situation in CEE countries we should not forget that despite their numerous similarities – resulting from their common fate as

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EBSCO Publishing : eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 6/19/2020 2:09 PM via AMERICAN PUBLIC UNIV SYSTEM AN: 189238 ; Waters, C. D. J., Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in the UK.; Global Logistics : New Directions in Supply Chain Management Account: s7348467