Emigration from Ukraine: Cash in their pockets

Date: 25/10/03

Only if the borders are closed will Ukrainians stop heading west

ITS buildings are dilapidated, its pavements cracked; yet Ternopil, a town of 200,000 in western Ukraine, is the liveliest property market after Kiev, the capital. House prices have shot up, even as the region's jobless rate has soared to over 50%. This is because being unemployed in Ternopil, as in most of western Ukraine, does not mean that you don't have a job.

From builders and farm hands to nannies and prostitutes, Ternopil has packed off its sons and, increasingly, its daughters to find work farther west in Europe. In some villages half the working-age population works abroad, practically all illegally and with poor pay. Yet with an average monthly wage in the Ternopil region of 266 hryvnia (around $50) against an official poverty level of 342 hryvnia, it is often the only way for families to feed their children.

Anything from 1m to 4m Ukrainians now work abroad, out of a population of 48m. As most leave on tourist visas, it is hard to know how many then stay on to work. But the director of a school in the village of Velyki Hai, just outside Ternopil, says that of his 477 students, at least 110 have one or both parents working abroad, sending money home. The pupils often have more cash in their pockets than teachers get in a month.

The new wealth is visible. Although the lanes are full of pot-holes, many villagers drive western cars and live in smart houses. Borys Dovzhuk, head of Ternopil's job centre, estimates that every year around $100m flows into the region from Ukrainians abroad (last year, total foreign investment in the whole of Ukraine was $700m). But most of it goes into houses, cars or children's education, not into businesses.

Trying to settle back home brings problems, too. Most migrants stay abroad for at least two years to pay off debts incurred getting to the West. The prolonged separation of couples has sent divorce rates soaring, and children left without parents are sometimes reluctant to have them back.

Yet it is getting harder for Ukrainians to go abroad. Several central European countries, including popular Poland, now require visas. If the border is shut, that official figure of 50% unemployment could start to match reality.

Only if the borders are closed will Ukrainians stop heading west.