Well, that’s true. The east accuses the west of ‘sponging’ and a lot of the students in the capital do sponge.
The logic of the easterners are simple. Imagine they have a GM plant cranking Chevrolets at a base price of $19,000.
It is extremely expensive for an average Ukrainian customer but considered cheap for a Russian. There is also a shop in Russia making Fords at $20,000 per unit, and Lada making a $16,000 low end vehicles. Lada has more horsepower and better equipped but somehow less reliable, Ford has better reputation than Chevy and both are liked by a “Buy Russian” crowd but there are a lot of greedy customers are choosing Ukrainian Chevy for a price-quality combination.
Now imagine if Ukraine is not into a Russian custom union? Russia has awful tariffs for foreign products. To bring things into perspective, base US-made Camaro is about $70,000. Now go try sell a $19,000 Chevy sedan for $40,000 while Audi actually builds A4s in Russia which sells at $40,000.
Would Ukrainians sell a $19,000 Chevy in Europe as their domestic market lacks any capacity? The answer is “no”. It might be ok for an American or Russian taste but for a German it is an absolutely substandard vehicle. It won’t pass beyond test drive ever.
It is true about the rest of Ukrainian businesses which are shaped for a Russian market (from confectionary to aircraft engines).