Roman Matys took part in the Three Seas Local Government Congress and Economic Forum as an expert from Ukraine. On the economic side, the expert group from the Three Seas Initiative countries was asked how and in which direction our economies should develop, what should unite us and which goals should become shared. Today’s reality sets conditions shaped not only by the post-pandemic world but also by a real war in Ukraine with all its consequences.
The panel brought together Roman Matys (Ukraine), Łukasz Grabowski (Poland), Konstantin Bekos (Austria), Matej Hojnik (Slovenia), Monika Cegnar-Jurjević (Croatia) and Bogdan Łukasik (Czech Republic). Much of the discussion was about each country’s human potential and a common problem that exists regardless of a country’s size or location: the level of education and professional training.
Ukraine’s demographics
Roman Matys’s account of Ukraine’s demographic trajectory over the past 30 years made a deep impression. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine had a population of 52 million. After the war began in 2014, with the occupation of Crimea and parts of the east, the figure was already 42 million. After the full-scale invasion of 2022, we can count on roughly 33 million, with a marked gender imbalance and extremely rapid ageing. Yet Roman Matys stressed that this does not mean the situation is critical or beyond repair.
How to bring people back
We need to focus on modernising every area of life rather than repeating calls for those who left to come back. Some of them will return, of course, but to bring back as many as possible we must be qualitatively different from the places they moved to. Let’s be honest: we cannot offer them the infrastructure they have already seen and experienced. But we can offer the prospect of Ukrainian infrastructure reaching the level they are used to, or even better. And while we build it, they can benefit in other ways: lower taxes, better digital services, access to education and personal growth. This is within our reach, and we can afford it today.
Then not only yesterday’s emigrants but residents of any developed country, especially remote workers, will be able to tell themselves: “The infrastructure may be a little worse than I am used to, but things are getting better, and lower taxes and living costs will let me spend my money on what interests me.” In the free world, people live where they like, not where the government decides.
Education
Raising the quality of education and vocational training is an eternal topic that will not go away under any circumstances, whatever a country’s geography or economy. So all the experts agreed that the dual education systems of Austria and Germany offer valuable lessons, as do the solutions of other countries, and that it is worth sharing them and building common strategies.
