Third of Ukrainian refugees unlikely to return home

He shared the statement on the Espreso TV channel. 

"According to the latest estimates of Ukraine's Ministry of Economy, the country needs another 5 million workers for normal economic recovery. That is, the issue of returning internally displaced persons to Ukraine is now very important for the functioning of the country. Now we come to the main problem. Among the people who have been forced to leave the territory of Ukraine, more than a third do not plan to return at all. We are talking about people who have already found jobs, places for their children to study and have integrated into the society in which they now live. Most of these people are in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia," Pendzin said.

The economist noted that under the best conditions, only more than 2 million refugees will return to Ukraine.

"More than 29% of Ukrainians currently living in Europe clearly state that they will return to Ukraine if the security conditions allow them to do so. That is, the first biggest problem for our refugees is security conditions. Another third of Ukrainians in Europe have not decided whether they will return home. In fact, now we have to understand the fact that only a third of Ukrainians who left the country because of the war are ready to return. This is at best up to 2 million people. All the rest are either hesitating or not going to return to Ukraine at all," he added.

• On August 16, the Ombudsman's Office reported that since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the difference between the number of people who left and returned to the country is only 2.4 million. 
• On July 26, the Government of New Zealand announced that it will grant residence permits to Ukrainian refugees who have arrived in the country on a special visa.