Privatization and Modernization of the Electricity Sector in the CEE Transition Countries

According to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a total of 6 billion US dollars of foreign investment flowed into the transition countries’ major infrastructure companies between 1990 and early 1996. These investments were primarily in the telecommunication industry and, to a lesser extent, the electricity and gas sectors. This represents 20% of the cumulative flow of direct foreign investment for the period. International commercial banks have also become more active in the region, although in 1995, twice as much lending money flowed into the infrastructures of Latin American countries (a region with a population of about 450 million compared to 400 million in the EBRD’s countries of operations.)