The brain drain reminded me of another story.

My dad's cousin and his new wife considered leaving Czechoslovakia after Prague Spring. Kamil graduated from agricultural engineering. Irena had some post-secondary education, which I cannot recall at the moment.

The Communist Party recognized the brain drain--and set up "the bribes" for the educated people to stay. Kamil & Irena were put on the short list to get their own house. Even though they were not members of the Party, they were given management jobs, which had higher salaries. They liked skiing and had taken many ski trips to the Tatras. They were allowed to practice Catholicism. But there were limits to their protest.

The communists in CSFR were reasonable social engineers.

https://www.tiereddemocraticgovernance.org/blog_details.php?blog_cat_id=28&id=124