Abstract
First and foremost I have to define the term east European economies, which is not clear enough to be understood. "East European Countries" is the general term that refers to the geopolitical region encompassing the eastern most of the European continent. Its borders are defined more by culture than by geography. The term "Eastern European Countries? was coined during the "cold war". The countries in the east of Europe fell into the "Eastern bloc". They were also under soviet influence and control after the Second World War. These nations were separated from the western European countries by the Iron curtains. These countries had a communist regime imposed upon them by the Soviet Union and were made to sign the Warsaw pact in 1955. This agreement was dissolved in 1991. East Germany had signed this agreement but we do not consider the former German Democratic Republic as an eastern country because of the reunification in 1990. According to the United Unions statistics division, the countries that fall under "East European countries? are: Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldavia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine.
