Praščević, Aleksandra eng Abstract: The paper deals with important issues of socio-economic consequences of economic and political reforms of post-so- cialist transition countries in the perspective of more than three decades of their transfor- mation with variable success. The success of reforms can be viewed from this historical perspective in the context of their econom- ic growth, but also of their social develop- ment. It answers the question of whether the economic transition from socialism (dom- inantly central-planned) to capitalism was an economic and social success. This is ob- served from the aspect of achieved economic growth, integration into the world economy, and especially into European integrations (such as the EU), as well as the growth of liv- ing standards and overall satisfaction of the citizens of these countries. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed many of the otherwise present questions about the possible failure of the undertaken reforms. The post-pan- demic world is facing geopolitical tensions, the basis of which is still a possible division into two systems (both economic and politi- cal), which raises the question of whether the reforms were really successful. The two sig- nificant shocks that hit the global economy in the 21st century had significant negative economic consequences for post-socialist economies, as well. First it was the Great Re- cession (2007-09) and then the COVID-19 pandemic. Post-socialist countries have faced economic difficulties, but also the political rise of undemocratic forces. Some of these difficulties have been solved by promoting the concept of stabilocracy. Today, when we are witnessing the war in Ukraine, the ques- tion is open again whether the neoliberal project, which was the base of undertaken reforms, together with promoting concept of stabilocracy represent a solution or the cause of further divisions in Europe info:eu-repo/semantics/conferenceProceedings https://phaidrabg.bg.ac.rs/o:28363 All rights reserved application/pdf 374166 bytes Socio-economic consequences of reforms in post-socialist countries : perspectives from the post-COVID world 2023 3rd International Interdepartmental Conference “Shaping Post-COVID World – Challenges for Economic Theory and Policy” : book of proceedings KEY WORDS: POST-SOCIALIST COUN- TRIES, GEOPOLITICAL TENSIONS, ECO- NOMIC TRANSITION, STABILOCRACY