Retiring in Ukraine

Hello Kevin,
My name is Keith. Good question.  Ive been to Ukraine 3 times. I think you could retire there easily with a minimal American pension and live a nice life. I would love to spend at least a couple of years there, but I want to rent a house out of town with land or a large lot for gardening.  I would need a garage also for a workshop etc, because I need things to do to have some kind of hobby or something so I dont get board. When I go  I usually stay for 3 months. I can only go on so many walks through town and see every shop 5 times and then become board and need a better way to spend time productively or I go nuts.  Have you thought about what you'll do with all your free time there after getting settled in for a couple of months?

Hi Kevin,
Personally I think Odesa is a good place to retire to. I live in Poltava and visit Odesa every year for a holiday.
As to how much income you need to live comfortably, depends on how and where in Ukraine you want to live. I guess 600 Euro (approx 18000 Uah) a month (sorry I don't know the conversion rate for your currency).
Obviously the more western lifestyle you want to live the higher the amount will be. If you want a simple lifestyle then maybe only 500 Euros.

Hi Keith, thanks for the info. I'm not 100% sure what I do in my spare time but I would probably like to buy into something.
Firstly, I would need to hire the services of a good Russian teacher to teach me the language. I currently know words and can put  a few sentences together but would love to speak fluently. So, the first 6 months would be all about learning the language.
I am multi skilled and very good in business, I'm sure I'll find myself something to keep myself occupied and  happy.
I have looked at buying an apartment through the Kaddorgroup in Odessa, they seem to be reasonable priced, but for the first few months I would rent a place until I feel confident about speaking the  Russian language.
The Kaddor group appear to build very stylish apartment blocks. They are up to their 44th apartment block in Odessa now. Check out their website kaddorgroup.com
Are there any other cities or towns I should consider?

Hi Sempei.ray

Thanks for your feedback.
It seems that I would be able to retire very comfortably which makes me happy.
I've read that Poltava is lovely.
I think it's probably best for me to fly over for 3 months and do a little travelling from city to city and see which one I feel comfortable with.
I have a friend currently moving from SA to Zhytomyr to be with his wife and he seems to be very happy with this area. He says the cost of living is really good value there.
I'm a bit of a city guy, I prefer to be somewhere lively so that's why Odessa appealed to me. I didn't enjoy the Kiev life and I don't know reason why I felt like that. Odessa just seemed to be more friendly.
What other cities have you visited which you could recommend to me to look at?
Is it better to hire a private Russian tutor or go to a school? Any idea what a private tutor would cost per month?
Thanks
Kevin

I am considering to retire in Ukraine as well.  Did you make the move?  Any lessons learned?

Robert

Hello Kevin, I haven't checked back in here to the site for awhile. Are you in Ukraine now? My wife is from Uzhgorod, but if you like more lively lifestyle with more "night life"then the bigger cities would be better such as Nicolaev.  I am the opposite, lol, more of a rural small town guy, because I like to have a garden and garage or workshop to do stuff.  In the villages locals can push the vodka drinking on you a lot more though. It can become a real problem actually, because they can get serious about it. I don't know what it is with some of these village people and pushing you to drink in excess.  I nearly had a fight one time at my wifes cousins house in a small village when they kept forcing and forcing me to drink and I was becoming ill with near alcohol poisoning and refused to drink any further. They just don't understand why you wont keep drinking with them, not matter how you try to politely explain that you cant drink any more and your at your limit. My wife and her cousin were arguing and yelling at this guy, a neighbor, to understand I am American and cant drink like they do and cant drink anymore. That didn't sit well and the guy got really angry. It was a bit unnerving to say the least. Ive had similar other situations like that. My wife warns me that if I want to live in a village some folks are like that. Regardless, I love Ukraine and intend to live there for at least a couple of years for the experience.

I know the village vodka.  If your glass goes empty they will refill it.  The trick is to leave a little in the glass and try to avoid taking full shots.  No empty bottles on the table it's bad luck.

Keith, move to Carpathian mountains to a touristy village, that way you somewhat get away from drinking as most of the people there are focused on making money on tourists. It's a nice place to retire, we have been considering. Its not far from Uzhgorod