Security, the opportunity to find work and study, and housing are key factors in the return of Ukrainians who left the country because of the war, and the Government is already working to create conditions for implementing each. This was stated by Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, in her speech at the Human Capital UA forum.
“Ukraine is facing the biggest migration crisis since the Second World War – more than 6 million Ukrainians are now abroad. The number of those who have already found employment abroad is growing every month. Our biggest challenge is to bring them back home. The four main factors that will encourage Ukrainians to return are security, the opportunity to be employed or to own and develop their own business, the opportunity to study, and housing. We are already working on the implementation of each component,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko.
The first and foremost factor is the liberation of the territories from the aggressor, followed by demining. According to Yuliia Svyrydenko, Ukraine is currently the most potentially mined country in the world. Therefore, demining is the zero stage of recovery, without which it is impossible to return life to the de-occupied territories. The Ministry of Economy is looking for ways to speed up the process by applying new approaches and methods to demining and modern technologies, increasing the number of demining machines and equipment, strengthening the capacity of government agencies involved in demining, and opening up the market for demining services.
To ensure the second component – the opportunity for Ukrainians to find a job or start a business – the Government introduced the eRobota grant programme last summer, which allows people to receive a grant to start or expand their business.
“Already 8,283 Ukrainians have received grants to develop their own businesses. They have created over 19,000 jobs. Creating 1-2 new jobs is a key requirement for receiving a grant. And given the high unemployment rate, it will be a mandatory requirement of all government business support programmes,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko.
She recalled that there was also a programme of grants for veterans and their spouses, as well as grants for the creation and development of processing enterprises. All of these will be continued next year.
Another important area is providing Ukrainians with the opportunity to train or retrain for a speciality that is more in demand on the labour market. The country is currently experiencing structural unemployment, where the skills available in the labour market do not match the needs of employers. Today, with the support of the State Employment Service, training is available, particularly in vocational education centres, where one can obtain a diploma in one of 95 professions. Ukrainians can also obtain a voucher for training in 124 professions and specialities. Such vouchers have already been issued to 15,500 Ukrainians. The most popular professions for which vouchers have been used are psychologist, nurse, cook, social worker and driver.
Affordable housing is also an important incentive for Ukrainians to return from abroad. Since last autumn, the eOselia affordable loan programme has been in place, allowing Ukrainians to apply for loans at 3% or 7% interest rates to purchase housing.
“More than 4,000 loans have already been granted under the programme. By the end of this year, 10,000 Ukrainian families will be able to obtain a mortgage. The programme operates throughout the country – loans for the purchase of housing are being applied for in Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv and Mykolaiv regions,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko.
