“This is the IPSO gaining momentum.” Ukraine’s Minister for the Economy comments on anti-immigration sentiment

The minister made these remarks in a comment to a hromadske journalist during the presentation of ‘Obriy’, a digital ecosystem for employment and the labour market.

“This, of course, includes the IPSO, which is gaining traction,” said the minister, referring to the surge in anti-migration sentiment on social media that occurred in May.

Sobolev added that Ukraine needs a “clean, transparent” labour market in which everyone knows everything. That is precisely why the “Obriy” ecosystem is being launched.

“So that decisions are made on the basis of data, so that no one can manipulate anything, and so that we know how many people there are in each region, what skills they have, and how they work. Through this transparency, we believe that it is possible, particularly through journalists, to reduce this percentage of enquiries (regarding the topic of migrants — ed.),” the minister added.

According to him, the government will address the issue of labour shortages primarily by engaging Ukrainians both within the country and through the return of citizens from abroad. The key factor for people’s return is the security situation.

“The security situation must be significantly better for people to start coming here. Our basic assumption is that 2 million people will return within the first two years,” noted the head of the ministry.

Sobolev also outlined that if the Ukrainian economy grows rapidly — at around 7% per year — then over the next 10 years the demand for workers will amount to 4.5 million people.

“We see a need across all specialisations, but I would highlight industry and blue-collar workers. In particular, this is linked to the defence sector, but also to the ongoing revival of Ukrainian industry,” he noted.

The ministry expects that, with the help of Obriy’s digital tools, it will be possible to bring an additional 100,000 people into the labour market this year.

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