BUDAPEST — Central and Eastern Europe’s information technology outsourcing market last year was worth $3B, according to a study by a consortium of CEE IT organizations.

The leading recipient countries for IT outsourcing business were Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Poland and Czech Republic.

According to the research, the most expensive countries for IT outsourcing were Poland, Hungary, Romania, Czech Republic and Estonia.

The researchers concluded that the IT outsourcing industry in Central and Eastern Europe is on par with global outsourcing centers such as India, China and Russia.

“We hope that free distribution of this research will help small and medium enterprises in selecting the right partners in Central and Eastern Europe,” said Victor Maznyuk, president of Ukrainian Hi-Tech Initiative, in a statement.

Organizations behind the research, “The Central and Eastern Europe IT Outsourcing Review 2007” were the Ukrainian Hi-Tech Initiative, ITONews.eu, the Baltic Outsourcing Association (Lithuania), the Employers Association of the Software and Services Industry (Romania) and JNN Consult Ltd (Bulgaria).