Berlin Wall: Akopian's view

The fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago marked the end of the crude and utopian communist experiment that divided Europe for over four decades.

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 ...