All of these countries experienced more or less severe initial recessions in the transformation process during the early to mid-1990s, with per capita GDP dropping below levels witnessed during the era of central planning. Poland, however, was able to benefit rather quickly from the introduction of market mechanisms into its economy.
Hence, it became the first country in the region to exceed the GDP levels recorded at the end of the socialist economy. Evidently, Poland has so far been more successful than other countries in managing the challenges of the transformation process.