Original scientific paper
Privatization of State Owned Property - (Un)Successful Proces of Tranzition? Social - etical judgement
Šimo Šokčević
orcid.org/0000-0002-8171-3437
; Catholic Faculty of Theology in Đakovo, J. J. Strossmayer University of Osijek
Vladimir Dugalić
orcid.org/0000-0003-1085-2541
; Catholic Faculty of Theology in Đakovo, J. J. Strossmayer University of Osijek
Abstract
Fifty years of the reign of socialist system and planned economy have showed the full extent of their ineffi ciency in Central and East European countries. The necessity for radical changes in the area of social and political life and for new economic models has been imposed on the post-socialist countries by disintegration of the socialist system. The problem of ownership and privatization of public/state property, for the most part provoked by the process of globalization, has abruptly become the key issue. We can see some similarities, but also certain differences if we compare different types of the process of privatization in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Transition was mainly a political project, carried out by political parties, mainly fractions of the old political elites. This resulted in a number of mistakes and contradictions, such as frauds and corruption, and deterioration of welfare system. Nevertheless, in spite of all the controversies, some of the countries have managed to overcome all the obstacles that appeared in the process of privatization, which was confirmed by their acceptance to the European Union. On the other hand, the process of privatization in Croatia was influenced by certain specific factors, like the imposed war, inherited type of self-management socialism, and, to a certain extent, decentralized economic system and market relatively more
developed at the level of companies. It was thus somewhat different from the same process in other transitional countries. Privatization in Croatia is consequently characterized by marginalization of the key factor of privatization – legal state. This resulted in pillage and sacking by individuals, and, from the social-ethical aspect, in disregard of the common welfare and basic social principles: solidarity, subsidiarity and justice.
Keywords
Central and East Europe; Republic of Croatia; transition; privatization; common welfare; legal state; public/state ownership; private ownership; liberal capitalism; solidarity; subsidiarity; justice
Hrčak ID:
36287
URI
Publication date:
29.1.2009.
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