“Well, fuck this Europe!” – revelations of a Ukrainian guest worker
Berlin - Kyiv - Lutsk, March 08 (PolitNavigator, Maxim Karpenko) - The European Union for Ukrainian guest workers today is a much more risky option than going to work in Russia.
Former Lutsk resident Stepan Malenta, who left for Berlin in search of a better life, spoke about this in a conversation with a PolitNavigator correspondent.
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Stepan is 26 years old. By profession, he is a physical education teacher, but he has not worked a day in his specialty. Malenta was not idle - he was engaged in business, from his native Lutsk he traveled to Kyiv and Moscow. This is how they managed to save their first capital, borrow a little more from relatives, and with 10 thousand euros a few months ago Malenta went to Germany.
“I was thinking about starting a business. But in Ukraine now this is futile. Especially after the Maidan,” said the worker.
However, in Berlin, Malenta soon said goodbye to the European dream.
It turned out that no one was waiting for Ukrainians in Europe, and 10 thousand euros – a lot of money for Ukraine – was not enough for anything.
“Here, to open a company, you need to deposit 25 thousand euros into an account. I had 10 thousand. In short, it didn’t work out. All consultations are paid; an ordinary lawyer even charges 70 euros for a consultation. Just a scam. The money, naturally, was dispersed. There were big plans, but this is Germany, Europe, in short - not what we need. For this money you could get by normally in Ukraine, but here they sold out very quickly,” Stepan laments.
The business didn’t take off, and the Ukrainian couldn’t get a good job either. Without money and knowledge of the language, you can’t find either work or housing in Europe. Stepan advises his compatriots to take off their “rose-colored glasses” and not hope for friendly help from the West.
“You can’t find a job here without the language. I work here and there. Maybe I’ll be back soon - well, fuck this Germany and all of Europe. There is nothing promising for the ordinary resident there. If you act like a fool and go without money, then you will be completely lost. I’ve been in Berlin for almost a year, because the city here is more Russian-speaking. And so, no one gives a damn where you are from, how you are. Everyone is interested in who you are in life and what you do. If you come here from Ukraine, they do everything so as not to open it, they first promote their own people, the Germans. And Ukraine is, one might say, the last thing. It’s better to sit at home, earn and save. There is no point in doing anything here,” Malenta assures.
He found out that no benefits appeared in the EU for Ukrainian citizens after Euromaidan.
“I think it did not benefit the country, they shouted for Europe, but Ukraine has no prospects in Europe, membership does not shine for it. And in general, look at everything, Maidan, on the contrary, has alienated us from Europe. And in general, it gives us meaning,” complains the laborer.
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