Former Soviet Union

The republics of the former Soviet Union need massive amounts of international assistance to restructure the remnants of a centrally planned economy into independent market economies. This report, one in a series on U.S. aid to Central and Eastern European nations and the former Soviet Union, discusses assistance to the republics from international donors, in particular the United States. GAO (1) identifies the extent and nature of assistance provided, (2) looks at how the United States intends to apply lessons learned from its assistance program to Central and Eastern Europe, and (3) assesses the level of coordination among donors.

GAO found that: (1) donor countries have pledged $90 billion in aid to the former Soviet republics; (2) less than half of the amount pledged will have been disbursed by the end of 1992; (3) the United States pledged about $9.2 billion; (4) grants made up 19 percent of the total amount pledged; (5) 28 percent of the U.S. pledges were in the form of grants; (6) the Agency for International Development built up its presence in the former Soviet Union more quickly than it didin Central and Eastern Europe; (7) the Department of State has duplicated the experimental Washington-based management structure used for delivering assistance to Central and Eastern Europe; (8) the United States has made efforts to provide assistance to develop a modern banking system; (9) donors and all former Soviet republics agreed to establish consultative groups to help coordinate assistance; and (10) limited coordination has had no apparent major adverse impact, but, as aid programs expand, donors may begin to duplicate efforts.