Offshore yourself: Making the move to Kiev

By all accounts, Kiev, Ukraine, is not the easiest city to adopt. It is a big city, 308 square miles, of which 135 miles is the business district. It is also an old city, founded 1,500 ago.

Despite its age, Kiev is like the Wild West of 150 years ago, with a massive amount of growth, says Peter Harrison, CEO of product development company GlobalLogic. “The Ukraine is very European with a far lower cost of living. But maybe it’s like North Carolina, not Manhattan,” Harrison says. It’s also not an E.U. member.

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What’s hot: The Ukrainian psyche does not believe it needs help, not even in IT, says Phil Hatch, CEO of Ventoro, a small advisory and research firm that was retained by the government to put together an economic package to grow the country’s outsourcing business.

What is needed are project and senior mangers. “There is no need for those with pure technology skills,” Hatch says.

Still, there are some technical skills that Ukraine needs, such as people strong in Microsoft technologies such as .Net, says Dimitry Kushnir, head of software development at Luxoft, an IT services company. Also, Java skills as well as embedded software development are a plus. “The culture of Ukraine is to solve engineering problems,” Kushnir says.

U.S. and multinational tech companies: There are not many large foreign firms in Kiev at the moment due to its still-emerging economy. According to Hatch, Kiev is the place to watch in the next 12 months, when he predicts the majors will start to move in.

IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Siemens, and Sun are there now. Consultancies include Deloitte and McKinsey.

Red tape: The best way to find a job in Kiev is through the sponsorship of a multinational operating inside the Ukraine. “The challenge is they think they have everything they need. They don’t see the value of having outside workers,” Hatch says.

Of course, like many eastern European countries, there is also a shadow economy where people are paid off the books. There is a sizeable number of ex-pats working that way, say some.

Up until recently, a work visa was good for 90 days. If you went away to another country for the weekend, you could then renew the 90-day permit for another 90 days. That has changed. Citizens of the U.S. and Canada can stay for as long as 90 days within a 180-day period without any visa. But a work visa is still required if you plan to stay more than three months. To obtain one, you must register your passport, but the requirement for an “invitation” letter from a company has been waived.

Language: Both Kushnir and Hatch say speaking either Russian or Ukrainian is not a major requirement for the work environment. If you want to meet real Ukrainians and not just ex-pats, however, knowing either language is helpful.

Financials: If you were a Ukrainian with good English skills, a project manager position would net you about $3,000 per month. Double that if you are specialized in a particular industry.

The cost of living is high in Kiev — comparable to U.S. and European capitals. Rents start at about $500 per month for a one bedroom apartment. Some things are less pricey: A furnished two-bedroom in a decent neighborhood starts at about $650. A loaf of bread is about 38 cents, a Coke 55 cents, and a local beer $1. A cell phone costs $73 and a new pair of shoes around $66. But some costs are quite high: A good hotel is still $500 per night and the restaurants are on a par with New York City prices.

Daily life and culture: Public transportation is good, with two airports, a railroad station, and a subway. Driving, however, is crazy, Hatch says. Kiev itself is a very livable city, with lots of parks and things to do. For example, there are about 30 museums and an equal number of theaters in Kiev.

There are private schools for most European and American tastes, and outside of the main city there are American-style neighborhoods, gated communities for the ex-pats and the wealthy.

But many things are different. For example, it is difficult to get a cup of coffee at the office. “The coffee culture doesn’t exist in Kiev. If you want a good cup of coffee, you have to get out of the business area,” Kushnir says.