In Lithuania Electronics Engineer with 3 years skills can get 700-750€ (730-782$) in hands after taxes in a month.
40h working time in a week.
Gee, that's terrible. Either the wages are low or the taxes are high.
I presume the cost of living is quite a lot lower in the Baltic countries over those in Western Europe?
Nope. East europe is like a different continent. I've noticed this with many colleagues of mine, they mind dont even register the information, if you say how much an engineer earns in Hungary in my case. They try to rationalize, that living cost is less there. So here is the thing:
Salaries in east europe are 40 to 20% of the ones in west europe. No this is not a mistake, I was earning 3 times as much when I moved here. Yes, living cost is less, but goods aren't. You cannot afford a new car. Or a fancy TV (600 EUR) will cost 1 month of your salary. Fuel is almost the same. You spend considerable amount just paying your utility bills, the rest goes to the bank, because you cannot afford to buy anything out of the pocket. It sucks and everyone hates it. [censored] you soviet union, its all your fault.
And there are professions, who are underplayed there. Like doctors, where the salary is 8-10 times in the west. Or look at the minimal wage. Someone with minimal wage will earn ~6 times as much in Luxembourg than in Poland. The two countries are 500 km from each other.