Ukraine Must and Will Work to Attract Non-Ukrainian Immigrants to Compensate for Losses, Kyiv Experts Say

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Oct. 23 – Because of war losses and the large number of Ukrainians who have fled their homeland in recent years, many of whom are unlikely to return, Kyiv analysts say, Ukraine will have no choice but to seek to attract immigrants from other countries after the war. Indeed, they point out, some Ukrainian industries are already doing that.

            Olga Musafirova, a Novaya Gazeta journalist who spoke with many of these experts, says that at a time when Russia is pushing immigrants out, Ukraine “is beginning to think about the need for attracting labor resources from outside” (novayagazeta.eu/articles/2024/10/23/ukraina-kotoruiu-my-znaem-i-liubim-ischezaet).

            That is because Ukraine has lost so many people in combat and by flight abroad, with only about a third of those who left are likely to return; and so its population is projected to decline even more after the war ends.  As a result, Ukrainian officials and businesses cannot afford to dismiss an expansion in the use of immigrants.

            Vladimir Fesenko who heads Kyiv’s Penta Center for Applied Political Research says that some metallurgical enterprises are already doing so and that their example is likely to be copied by others even before the Ukrainian government takes any general decision on attracting immigrants.