The Berlin Wall 20 years on: Akopian's view

Both Central Europe and the new Russia, soon after 1989, began building market economies through mass privatisations. The newborn domestic equity markets were attempting to define the value of the once state-owned enterprises. Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Russia became known as the European Emerging markets. Shrewd investors sensing opportunities, in the countries with highly educated and skilled work force, began hunt for bargains. In 1989 Hungary, for example, had about 40 listed companies and its total market capitalization was some $116m - about 0.5% of GDP. The stock ...