Economic convergence and the Global Crisis of 2008-2012: the case of Baltic countries and Ukraine

The sustainable economic welfare of the new EU Member States is reflected in the convergence process. The paper is dedicated to the investigation of the convergence between Ukraine, Baltic countries and other EC countries within the various indices of the social-economic development. The system of economic growth models is analyzed: the convergence is theoretically grounded on the basis of Solow model, and thus the methods of empiric control of convergence concept are determined. The empiric analysis of convergence processes between above mentioned countries showed that the most spreading method of convergence presence in the rate of economic growth is the reduction of the inequality in the GDP per capita level among the countries groups.