Across Ukraine, residential construction was down 29% during the first half of the year,

Across Ukraine, residential construction was down 29% during the first half of the year, to 3.3 million square meters, according to the State Statistics Service. With the migration of construction workers and tradesmen to Poland, construction costs are rising at 20% a year – double this year’s inflation rate. Lack of mortgages depresses sales. Victor Gleb, a former deputy chief architect of Kyiv tells UNIAN: “In Kiev, almost half of the newly built residential real estate is empty. Drive through blocks of multi-story buildings in the evening. See how many windows are lit up. You will be unpleasantly surprised: most houses are half empty. Meanwhile, thousands of families need better housing conditions.”