The property market in Kiev may be booming, but Ukraine's most desirable addresses now belong to homes close to its border with the EU.

Ukrainians living within 50km (30 miles) of Hungary will be able to punch a hole in the new Schengen visa regime that blocks the way to the EU for their compatriots.

They will gain special permits allowing them to visit their neighbours across the border without visas. The rest of Ukraine's 47 million people must pay €35 (£25) and apply for a Schengen visa. Quite how this will be policed remains to be seen. Ukraine is negotiating similar agreements with Slovakia and Poland.

Poland is particularly significant. It used to issue free visas to Ukrainians, which was one reason why thousands crossed the border to fill jobs left vacant by Poles heading for Britain. Now they must pay €35 for a visa, a significant sum in a country where the average salary is only about €140 a month. Any agreement to grant special privileges to those living close to the border is likely to stimulate a thriving black market in fake addresses.

For many Ukrainians, it is a question of fairness. After the pro-Western Orange Revolution in 2004, Ukraine scrapped visas for EU citizens as an expression of its desire to join the European club. “Ukraine has had a visa-free regime for European countries since 2005 but there has been no step in response,” Andrii Deshchytsia, of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, told The Times. “Our goal is a visa-free regime to travel to Europe. Real integration means free movement without visas and this is an additional barrier.”

The issue has added urgency, since Poland and Ukraine are joint hosts of the 2012 European Championships. While Polish football fans can travel freely to Ukraine, their co-hosts will have to pay for visas to watch games in Poland.

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