The Ukrainian operations will employ 200 staff by the end of this year and 500 by 2001, up from the current 150. Telesens-Ukraine produces the software, while the other offices focus on selling the products in their respective countries. The German firm cites Ukraine's educated workforce as the reason behind its investment. The company set up its Ukrainian office two years ago in the city of Kharkiv, home to a number of good technical universities. The Telesens courses have proved so popular that the company plans even to start charging.
Potential salaries are also a big draw.
Since its Ukrainian operations were launched two years ago, Telesens has produced exclusively for the Western markets, as the price of its software was prohibitively high for the domestic market. But as the Ukrainian economy makes the first tentative steps towards recovery, Telesens believes there will be growing interest in its products and the company plans to start selling locally as well. Popnet also wants to sell software in Ukraine. However, there is already strong local competition. The Ukrainian State Tax Administration is one of Galaktika's customers.