By KYIV. Jan 18 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Government of Ukraine has opened negotiations with its partners on the issue of helping refugees to return home, Deputy Economy Minister of Ukraine Taras Kachka, who is also the Trade Representative of Ukraine, said.
“I think it is good, in fact, that our partners help Ukrainians to integrate into society, in which they are living now, but, at the same time, they do not manipulate saying that they do not want them [Ukrainian refugees] to come back to Ukraine, and we can see their willingness to have such a common policy regarding this issue,” he said at a panel hosted by Ukraine House Davos on Thursday.
According to the deputy minister, the Ukrainian and German governments could help a person return to Ukraine from Germany: the Ukrainian side could provide this person with infrastructure, housing and a job, while the German side could redirect part of social support for Ukrainian refugees to helping them return to Ukraine.
“We have just opened negotiations with our partners on the issue. This will not happen this or next year, but will do later,” Kachka said.
At the same time, the official admitted the fact that a question of competition might arise since today the EU member states are interested in hiring Ukrainians as workforce which does not create migration problems.
“Of course, in this context we are facing again the issues of attractive economic policy and drawing investment,” he said.
Kachka expressed hope that Ukraine will manage to develop a common policy with the EU on returning the Ukrainians home in the future.
According to the UN data, around 6 million Ukrainian refugees are staying abroad. The Economy Ministry of Ukraine expects that up to 1.5 million of them will return this year, while some experts describe such forecast as too optimistic.
