Hello everyone, my name is Stanislav Tsyc, this is the onlineteam.me project, and our segment about Poland. I’ve been living in Poland for three years now, but I spent most of my conscious life in Ukraine, so I can compare these two countries. And today, in this video, we’ll talk about the pros and cons of living in Poland and Ukraine based on my personal experience, and we’ll go through each point.
So, let’s go.
The first advantage in favor of Ukraine is friends, acquaintances, and family. When you have friends and people you can rely on — that’s definitely a plus. Especially when you have children, urgent matters, or problems arise.
As for Poland — it has a well-developed infrastructure. There is convenient and round-the-clock public transportation, good roads, and well-designed playgrounds.
In Poland, you know that the road you’re walking on will lead you exactly where you need to go. A driver in Poland knows that all necessary signs and indicators will be in place. In short — in this comparison, Poland wins. Ukraine is still weaker in this aspect. But it has another advantage — affordable services. In Poland, calling an electrician or any other repair worker costs at least 100–200 zloty.
And that’s just for a quick inspection, not even any work done. In Ukraine, for that price, someone will already do some actual repairs. The same applies to other services — car washes, food delivery, haircuts. You especially feel the difference when visiting a dentist. Dentistry in Ukraine is significantly cheaper. And in terms of service quality — you can definitely find great specialists in Ukraine whose services cost 2–3 times less than their Polish counterparts.
- Polish mentality vs Ukrainian traditions
- Difficulties of Learning Polish
- Healthcare in Poland: Features, Advantages, and Disadvantages
- Travel Opportunities in Poland
- Cheaper Housing in Ukraine
- High-Quality and Affordable Food in Poland
- Cheap Public Transport in Ukraine
- More Entertainment and Social Activities in Poland
Polish mentality vs Ukrainian traditions
The next point in favor of Poland — cleanliness. Poland really is clean. If we talk about Krakow, I still think it’s a bright, nice, and clean city. Sometimes I wake up at 5 in the morning and hear the machines cleaning the streets, collecting trash. The same happens again in the evening. Overall, you can feel a much higher level of cleanliness across the country compared to Ukraine. Even office spaces — our cleaning lady does such a great job that I sometimes have to hide my things from her. In Ukraine, many people work with the attitude of “just get it over with.”
Another point I would assign to Ukraine is the familiar mentality. When you understand the mentality, it’s easier to resolve issues, feel people’s intentions, understand their humor, and recognize subtleties in communication.
The topic of humor is very important in general. You can tell a lot about a country or nation by its jokes — what’s in their heads, what their history is like. When you understand all that, you can sometimes tell from a person’s look whether you said something right or wrong. In Poland, you just don’t pick up on these things that easily — or not as deeply as in Ukraine. No matter how long you live there, you won’t fully catch all the nuances.
Back to Poland — there are no angry people here. I’ve already mentioned this in my videos about buying a business in Poland and about small businesses in Poland. Let me elaborate. It’s true — in Poland you hardly ever meet angry people. In three years of living here, I’ve only met a handful of people who were rude — and one of them was a homeless person, angry at himself. Generally speaking, whether in line at the supermarket or at the bus stop — you don’t feel the tension in the air like you do in Ukraine or other post-Soviet countries. Life in Poland is calm and measured.
Difficulties of Learning Polish
The next point concerning Ukraine is language knowledge. Writing, speaking, calling, meeting, and having a comfortable conversation is always easier in your native language. A natural, living language allows you to move things forward more quickly and negotiate better with people. It removes barriers and cultural misunderstandings.
As for Poland — most Ukrainians immediately understand 20–30% of the Polish language (thanks to their knowledge of Ukrainian and Russian).
But there are still many nuances and details — especially in business — that are lost without perfect knowledge of the national language. Sometimes, even knowing English doesn’t help you reach your desired goal. That’s why another point goes in favor of Ukraine.
The next point in favor of Poland is rule compliance. If you follow the rules in Poland, the system supports and helps you. By “system,” I mean people, laws, and government officials.
In Poland, if you’ve done everything by the book — good results are guaranteed. In Ukraine, things don’t always work this way. I’m sure you’ve encountered situations where you do everything exactly as asked, bring the necessary documents — and they still say: “This isn’t right,” or “Sorry, the rules have changed — start over.” Situations like that are frustrating and distract you from more important things in life.
Healthcare in Poland: Features, Advantages, and Disadvantages
Another point in favor of Ukraine is healthcare. It’s much cheaper there. I can’t say it’s better quality, but due to our mentality, many problems can be bypassed. For example — you can get a doctor’s appointment without waiting by paying someone a bit extra.
Here in Poland, even if something happens to you and it’s covered by insurance, you might still have to wait two months.
You come in and say: “Guys, how can I wait two months when my arm or tooth hurts?” In Ukraine, such issues can be resolved more quickly.
Also, if in Ukraine an ambulance arrives to save your life, in Poland it’s more like to maintain your life. The infrastructure is built so that people treat themselves and only call an ambulance when they really feel something is seriously wrong.
Personally, I still prefer when people come to save me — so another point goes to Ukraine.
Travel Opportunities in Poland
The next point in favor of Poland — better travel conditions. I’m sure you’ve heard stories of people traveling by plane very cheaply from Poland.
Indeed, in Poland, you can travel much more safely, quickly, and affordably than in Ukraine. So — another advantage for Poland.
Cheaper Housing in Ukraine
So far, housing in Ukraine is significantly cheaper than in Poland. I’m talking both about buying and renting. Although buying property in Poland is a sensitive topic. I actually have a video titled “How to Buy an Apartment in Krakow and Move There with Your Family,” where I explain all the important details.
High-Quality and Affordable Food in Poland
In Poland, you can buy high-quality food at low prices. Mangoes, tuna, tiger prawns — all of this is cheaper than in Ukraine or other post-Soviet countries.
It’s hard to say why exactly, but it’s true. If you dream of moving to Poland and eating prawns — go for it, they’re inexpensive here.
Cheap Public Transport in Ukraine
Another point for Ukraine is cheap public transportation. I’m not talking about international travel, but local municipal transport. Recently, I was in Kyiv and saw that prices for minibuses, metro, and trams are still very low.
Within the city, there’s not a single mode of transport (except taxis) that costs even 50 cents.
In Poland, on the other hand, many types of transport cost around 1–1.5 dollars. So — another point for Ukraine.
More Entertainment and Social Activities in Poland
The final point in favor of Poland is more entertainment and social events. There’s a lot more going on here. City authorities support such initiatives, and people are more involved in all these activities — food and culture festivals, city events, concerts, national holidays.
There’s always something happening on such days — fun, gatherings, and celebrations.
Plus, in tourist cities like Krakow, Warsaw, and Wrocław — there are lots of foreigners. And where there are foreigners, there’s even more fun — more club parties, pubs, and social events.
In Ukraine, I feel this happens less often. The closest city that matches this vibe is Lviv. If you haven’t been there yet — visit and see for yourself.
So, you’ve now heard 7 advantages of living in Ukraine and 7 advantages of living in Poland.
If you liked this video — give it a thumbs up. I hope it was helpful for you. Let’s decide together — what other pros and cons of living in these countries exist?
What do you think?
Maybe you believe I’m wrong and that the advantages of Poland outweigh those of Ukraine.
Or maybe you think living in Ukraine is the only way to go.
Be sure to share your opinion in the comments, like this video if it was helpful, share it with your friends, subscribe to my channel — and I wish you a great move to Poland and successful online teamwork!
