'Brain drain': why millions of skilled Ukrainians are leaving the country

Ukrainians who leave the country in search of a better life, explain their decision by the lack of jobs, fighting in the East and the difficult political situation.

Фото: Depositphotos

“Nothing awaits our children here”

In Ukraine, Katerina Filip was a certified English teacher. Now she works as a cleaner in the Czech Republic, writes NBC News. It was a difficult decision, but the woman is convinced that her three children will have a bright future. Filip, 34, is one of millions of Ukrainians who have fled the country as part of a devastating phenomenon called the “brain drain.”

Katerina says that the lack of high-paying jobs, corruption and the war in Eastern Ukraine forced her and her husband Vasily to go to the Czech Republic.

“Nothing awaits our children here,” says a woman sitting in a pizzeria in the center of Kyiv. “We love Ukraine, but it does not reciprocate our feelings.”

Although there is no official statistics, since the census was not conducted since 2001, at every moment approximately every fifth citizen of Ukraine works abroad.

Deputy Prime Minister Gennady Zubko called the exodus of skilled personnel "one of the greatest threats facing Ukraine after military aggression," and the former head of the foreign intelligence service called the situation a "national tragedy."

In 2018, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Pavel Klimkin, said that 100 000 people left the country every month.

Since the country became independent in 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union, its population has fallen by almost 8 million people, from 52 million to about 44 million. The UN estimates that by 2050 the population of Ukraine will be 36 million, and 50 years later - 28 million. Falling birth rates also play a role, but migration is a key part of the equation.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that economic migration is a “normal process.”

But the Philip family does not agree.

“If you are a teacher with a college diploma or own a business and are ready to leave it all in order to wash floors abroad, this is not normal,” says Katerina Philip.

Vasily Filip, 23, met his future wife while fighting on the front lines in eastern Ukraine in 2015. He says he had few opportunities and little support after returning home after a year of war. He first found work in Poland, and now works as a roof repairman in the Czech Republic. Katerina Philip has traded teaching languages ​​for what she calls “dirty work.”

When asked what is needed so that they can return forever to the country that Vasily defended as a soldier, the man emotionally answers that there is little chance of this. “If we had hope, we would never have left,” he says.

Leave at the peak of professionalism

Experts emphasize that every Ukrainian who goes abroad in search of a better life contributes to the loss of one of the country’s most valuable resources - human potential.

In 2018, Ukrainians working abroad sent 11,6 billions of dollars home. It is expected that in 2019 this number will grow to 12,2 billion.

Ella Libanova, director of the Kiev Institute of Demography and Social Research, believes that about 3 million Ukrainians work abroad at any given time.

“The people who are leaving are mostly of working age, which makes the losses especially acute,” Libanova said. “This is the age when people reach the peak of their professional activity and also when they have children.”

Фото: Depositphotos

Although the number of economic migrants leaving Ukraine has traditionally been high, most people eventually returned. After the start of the war in 2014, the picture changed.

“Previously, migrants who left for Russia returned, but those targeting Western Europe are trying to stay and not return,” Libanova said. — This is not a typical cyclical migration. Those who go abroad and find reasonable work tend to stay there.”

39-year-old Alexey Luponosov is among those who want to leave Ukraine forever. The financial advisor plans to move his family to Germany in the next couple of years. Luponosov accuses the government of not doing enough to motivate people to stay, and believes that the country's leadership does not notice the consequences of the “brain drain.”

“Creative people who leave do so because they don’t feel any support here,” he said.

He says that he is leaving Ukraine with a broken heart, but he feels that he has no choice.

“The graves of my ancestors are here. I love this country, its people, language and traditions,” said Luponosov. “Somewhere inside I feel like a traitor.” My heart will remain here, but to save my family, I must leave."

It's not just money

According to Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz, up to 2 million Ukrainians live in Poland. The minister thanked them for their work in key areas of the economy and for “contributing to the development of Poland.”

Among them is Oleg Yarovoy, who moved to Warsaw with his wife Inna three years ago. After creating a successful coffee house, they expand with three new outlets and plan to sell franchises.

“There is more bureaucracy in Ukraine - that’s a fact,” said Oleg Yarovoy, adding that “everything is easier to do” in the country that has accepted him.

He says that they are comfortable in Poland - the family enjoys using public transport, roads and medical services. “You can feel that comfort in the little details,” he said.

Five years after the 2014 revolution of the year, when Ukraine embarked on the pro-Western path, there are opinions that the changes are taking place too slowly.

29-year-old software developer Viktor Jankauskas intends to leave Ukraine due to the “more than weak” economy and lack of jobs. Jankauskas says he can make a good living in Ukraine, but plans to move to Berlin due to concerns about the level of violence in his country - a direct consequence of the war in the east.

“Society is on the edge,” said Jankauskas, who is already studying German. “I just don’t have time,” he added. “I only have one life, and I’m not ready to wait another 10 years until major changes happen in Ukraine.”

Jankauskas says he is horrified by the March presidential election on 31. Polls now headed by comedian and actor Vladimir Zelenskywho has no political experience. Jankauskas finds this shocking.

“It pains me to know that a country that has gone through the dramatic events of the last five years is ready to vote for a comedian as its next president,” he said. “I think this is more betrayal of the homeland than total emigration.”

Mathematician turned photographer and model, 28-year-old Angelina Moskalenko is not yet ready to abandon her homeland. Better known by her professional name Angelina Hardy, she returned to Ukraine in early 2018 after years of working abroad to “invest” in her country, both financially and emotionally.

Although she was recently offered an opportunity to take up photography in Sri Lanka, she feels it is worth giving Ukraine another chance. Hardy says the country is "bleeding intellectuals" - 80% of her maths classmates have already gone abroad.

“Those qualified, talented people who could leave have already done so,” she said. “And it’s very sad.”

Hardy wants to open a photography school in Kyiv and is giving himself - and the country - a year.

“To change Ukraine, you have to be here,” she says.

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