NATO Helps Ex-Servicemen Get Civilian Jobs

On February 26, Ukraine’s National Coordinating Center for the Social and Professional Adaptation of Former Servicemen and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization signed an agreement on the implementation of NATO’s proposal to help Ukrainian ex-servicemen switch to civilian careers. The agreement is a continuation of an earlier program signed in October 1999 and aimed at easing the social adaptation of former soldiers, said NATO Economic Director for Political Issues Patrick Arduet. The 1999 program paid for ex-servicemen to learn foreign languages and computer skills. As a result, half of those enrolled in the training courses have found new jobs. Now, five or six branches of the NATO retraining center will be opened in Kyiv, Odesa, Sevastopol, Rivne and Lviv. They will offer courses in military translation (naval and engineering specialties) and in computer science. The courses will be tailored to the requirements of local labor markets. As Director of the National Coordinating Center Oleksandr Shykalov stressed, enrollment policy will be based on the preferences of ex-servicemen, their expertise, and military skills. For instance, a Greek shipping company has agreed to provide jobs for Ukrainian former officers on the major condition that they know English.

Asked how the program will cost NATO, Mr. Arduet stated EUR 100 million, stressing that the alliance does not have a large civilian budget and that Ukraine has been the only country with which NATO maintains such links.

Mr. Shykalov said that the problem of the social adaptation of former servicemen is very important and has received government backing, with Ukraine’s Armed Forces having been downsized from 780,000 to 275,000 in 1992-1999. Ukraine has enacted a state program for the social adaptation of former officers, which is funded by the state. Since beginning in 1996, approximately 9,000 army officers have received training within the framework of the program, with 5,000 being able to find civilian jobs.