Israeli-Ukrainian Alliance on why Israel is increasingly choosing Ukrainian developers (speka.media)

According to the IT Ukraine association, Ukrainian IT exports had gone up 24.7% to $6.8 billion in 2021. Israel is the fourth largest IT exporter in the world, preceded only by the United States, Great Britain and Malta. 

In recent years, Ukraine has tripled its IT exports volumes to Israel. While in 2016 the local companies exported computer services from Ukraine for $94 million, in 2020 the figure was $238 million.

Ukrainian developers are holding leading positions in many Israeli companies, including Payoneer, MyHeritage, Playtech, Wix, Playtika and Plarium. At least 20 Israeli companies have R&D offices in Ukraine.

SPEKA talked with the representatives of the Israeli-Ukrainian Alliance about why Israeli IT companies value Ukrainian developers so much.

Why Israel chooses Ukrainian pros

Approximately 45% of Israeli technology companies that attract international talent choose Ukraine as one of the main offshoring destinations. The reason for that is the rapid development of the technological ecosystem, strong technical education and a talent pool of 200,000 specialists.

Anna Zharova, CEO of the Israeli-Ukrainian Alliance’s Israel offices, says that the demand for IT services outsourcing is growing in Israel. Some firms are not satisfied with their current partners and starting to look at Ukrainian companies.

"Israeli companies are turning to Ukraine for a number of reasons: similar mentality, the same time zone that facilitates communication, the presence of R&D centers of such giants as Microsoft, Huawei, Samsung, Siemens, and Oracle. This allows us to develop talent on par with the international standards,” she said.

The expert adds that the hourly rate of a Ukrainian engineer is no less important, as it is much lower than what you’re likely to get in Israel, Europe, or the U. S. Ukrainian specialists are the best in “value for money” terms, which makes them much more profitable for Israeli companies. Possible savings here are ranging from 40% to 70%.

According to the CEO of the Israeli-Ukrainian Alliance in Ukraine Olga Stolyarchuk, the advantages include the scale and cohesion of the Ukrainian tech community, clusters and organizations. These are the indicators of a strong and vibrant technological ecosystem. Additionally, Ukraine is a venue for many large-scale IT events and conferences (iForum, Lviv IT Arena, Agile Eastern Europe Conference). This allows Ukrainian IT specialists to learn international best practices, follow trends, and promote themselves globally.

"In Ukraine, you can easily find top talent in AI, big data, blockchain, and cybersecurity. Breakthrough technologies (so-called disruptive tech) are also rapidly appearing in the local market. And well-known Ukrainian startups PetCube, Gitlab, YouTeam, People.ai, Grammarly keep working in Ukraine, opening up opportunities for Israeli companies to hire truly unique talent,” she said.

What makes Ukrainian IT companies interested in the Israeli market

The main advantages of exporting to Israel:

• rapid development of the tech industry and frequent job openings. Approximately 5% of positions remain open: the industry if almost 15,000 employees short;

• free Trade Agreement between Ukraine and Israel thanks to which bilateral trade in goods increased by 10% in 9 months of 2021;

• no time difference and regular flights to Israel from Ukraine. It is only a 3-hour flight from Kyiv to Ben Gurion Airport. Which means you can have a few meetings in Israel and still go back home the same day.

Source: speka.media (in Ukrainian)