On the 3d of February the officials from the US Embassies in Ukraine and in Poland met with representatives of the IT industry in Lviv, Ukraine.

TEAM International’s CTO Sergiy Povolyashko took part in a business lunch with Marie Yovanovitch, the US Ambassador to Ukraine, and Paul W. Jones, the US Ambassador to Poland.

The meeting was semi formal, and raised issues around doing business in Poland, as well as country’s proximity to Ukraine.

The parties discussed the opening of offices in Poland, the problems faced by the companies on the Polish market, and also the benefits and possible solutions of this strategy. The dialogue allowed all parties involved to voice their views on these issues and share their experiences and observations.

Now that Eastern Europe is a software nearshore powerhouse, businesses expand their presence in the region as a part of global strategy. If you already have successful development center in Ukraine, it might be a good idea to arrive in Poland as well for the following reasons:

• Proximity in mentalities.
• Advantageous geographical location.
• EU membership, open European market.
• High level of professional education in both countries.
• Transparent system of taxation and wages.

There’s always a room for improvement though. Border control processes and transportation between Ukraine and Poland could be optimized.

Sergiy also emphasized two main trends in today’s industry in Ukraine: the increasing number of various IT courses, and the growing of number of “switchers” from other industries.

Both lead to cost effective salary trends for junior and middle IT specialists that create competitive advantage over other outsourcing locations.

The participants discussed the system of education in Ukraine. Everybody noted that lately the level of education in Ukrainian universities increased significantly.

This will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the industry in the long run. The business lunch was the confident step towards a productive dialogue between the industry representatives and government officials.