Many European companies trying to cut costs are looking east to Poland, where wages are a fifth of western levels, but Polish companies hoping to cut costs are also looking east to Ukraine.
In recent weeks, InterGroclin Auto, a car seat upholstery manufacturer, announced it would wind down most of its Polish production and shift to factories in Ukraine.
Zbigniew Dzrymala, the company's owner, says Poland is becoming too expensive for labour-intensive manufacturing. Wages in Ukraine are only about a quarter of those in Poland.
"We'll retain logistics and research and development in Poland," Mr Dzrymala told reporters in Kiev.
The company now has one factory in Uzhgorod, western Ukraine, and plans to open another within three years.
Other Polish companies, from banks to furniture makers and food producers, are also taking a closer look at their neighbour.
PKM Duda, one of Poland's leading meat producers, this year spent $1.5 million buying a Ukrainian hog farm and slaughterhouse. It is looking to buy five or six large farms capable of processing 250,000 hogs a year and aims to become a leading pork producer in Ukraine.
Many Polish companies have noticed the similarities between the early years of economic transformation in Poland and the current situation in Ukraine.
