CHANGES IN THE AGRARIAN STRUCTURE OF LITHUANIA AND THEIR COSTS

The regaining of independence and the fall of the Soviet system marked the beginning of a process of economic and social transformation geared towards the market economy. Transformation in agriculture consists in decollectivisation. The transformation process in Lithuania is similar to that observable in other countries of Central and Eastern Europe but it also displays features specific for the country's political life, its privatisation methods and the earlier accomplished economic and social changes. The departure from the collective model of farming is accompanied by changes in social relations and the emergence of new production entities in rural areas. The disintegration of the collectivist model confirms territorial differences between new agrarian structures, which are concordant with the historical heritage.