Editor’s Note: Kyiv Post journalists Ilya Timtchenko, Bermet Talant and Josh Kovensky asked participants of Dragon Capital’s 14th annual Ukraine Investor Conference how Ukraine can prevent more of its young people from leaving the nation for better opportunities abroad.

Marie Yovanovitch, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine

Marie Yovanovitch (ua.usembassy.gov)

“Brain drain is obviously an issue here… If the Ukrainian economy is growing there will be jobs for people in all sorts of different sectors, and they are going to want to stay here… it’s important that not only foreign investors have confidence in the court system, the banking system and so forth, but it’s important that Ukrainians do as well so that they reinvest in Ukraine and create those opportunities.”

Aivaras Abromavicius, former economy minister of Ukraine (2014-2016)

Aivaras Abromavičius (Volodymyr Petrov)

“Living outside of my home country — including Sweden, the United States, Estonia, Ukraine and so on — I have nothing against people checking out, experiencing lives abroad… but we certainly need to work to build a better country so that some of these people will return afterwards… The other part is sort of a lack of positive outlook of the country from which they migrate. And here obviously it all depends on politicians. So more reforms and less corruption and more promises kept. We are all for economic liberalism and so on, but don’t forget the common person on the street, don’t forget about families, so the social aspect needs to be really taken into account.”

Oleksander Danyliuk, minister of finance of Ukraine

Oleksander Danyliuk (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)

“It’s not just being proud of our own talents and fearing that we are losing them but also that we can get the talents from other countries to create a proper environment here. And there is no other way. Its basically to keep reform in the country, making it an attractive place where to do business and to live… we need to create opportunities here.”

Ivan Svitek, general manager at Alfa-Bank Ukraine, chairman of Ukrsotsbank

Ivan Svitek (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)

“I think it’s a huge issue. And the only way you can deal with it is by creating, building a country where people want to live, people want to invest, and want to work, and for this you need reforms, again. And as long as the wage gap is as big as it is – right now the wage gap between Ukraine and Poland is maybe five times, six times – people will continue to leave… the next issue is the (age gap) and the country has to go forward and change that.”

Francis Malige, managing director for Eastern Europe and the Caucus at EBRD

Francis Malige (ebrd.com)

“Creating jobs obviously is a clear thing, creating a few good examples to show that you can be successful as an entrepreneur in this country would go a very long way…. Corruption is not just a concept. Its hundreds of millions being stolen from this country, or billions being stolen from this country every year. If you stop that flow, of course that money that remains here and that’s money that can be used to invest here.”

Olexiy Pavlenko, former agriculture minister of Ukraine (2014-2016)

Olexiy Pavlenko (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)

“The most difficult question is when you talk with guys from Mariupol, Illichivsk, huge industrial complexes. They say we propose the same salary to people but find them leaving for Poland anyway. Because if you have infrastructural issues and social issues, while the general climate and atmosphere there is more positive than in Ukraine, it means you need improvements on the social side as well.”

Oksana Zaburueva, manager at Dragon Capital

Oksana Zaburueva (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)

“Many positive changes are happening in our country but the results of these changes will take some time to reach the general population. The government has to communicate better to people what it is doing. People don’t know what this country is going to be in 2, 5, 10 years. If they understood better what is going on they would see it as a country that gives them big opportunities, they would see value in staying here.”

Hlib Vyshlinsky, executive director at the Centre for Economic Strategy

Hlib Vyshlinsky (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)

“Strong economic growth of 5-7 percent would make people see more business opportunities and create jobs in Ukraine. If communicated well, it will simultaneously create an image of a successful country.”