In terms of human resources, Ukraine is at par with the most advanced economies of Central and Eastern Europe (see table below). At the same time, Ukraine’s human resources are cheaper than in Russia and 5 times cheaper than in Hungary.
Table: Human Capital
Urbanisation % of pop
Life expec- tancy, Years
Infant mort, Per 1,000 births
Secondary school, % of cohort
Patent appli- cations (’95), residents
‘98 Avg wage, US$/month
Czech R.
66
74
6
96
628
363
Hungary
65
70
11
81
1,117
325
Poland
64
72
12
96
2,598
385
Romania
56
69
22
66
1,811
153
Russia
76
66
17
87
17,611
114
Slovakia
59
73
11
91
273
285
Ukraine
71
67
14
91
4,806
61
Source: World Bank, Business Central Europe. Note: 1997 data, if not otherwise stated.
Citation:
Factors of production-labor and capital - were and remain (at least this is true about labor) very “cheap” and, therefore, competitive. A very low salary level is evidence of this, whereas at the beginning of the economic growth period five years ago there was also evidence of excess capacity.
Lorenzo FIGIUOLI, IMF Senior Resident Representative in Ukraine Mirror Weekly #32 August 2004
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