Even before the conversation with Yosif Pavlyk, the owner of the company of the same name, which specializes in the production of tables and chairs, we knew about it. They had information that he helped a colleague – Leonid Spivakov, whose furniture factory in Gostomel was destroyed by wild orcs in the first days of the war, to revive it in his region, in Transcarpathia. In a telephone conversation with Mr Yosif, we asked him to tell us more about it.

– Even before the war, partnership and sometimes friendly relations between the members of the Ukrainian Association of Furniture Manufacturers were a manifestation of common corporate interests, a guarantee of cooperation and mutual benefit. The war not only multiplied such relations and deepened them to a great extent, but also gave them new forms. And the case with Leonid Spivakov’s company is an example of that.

In fact, in this particular case, it was not about the relocation of the company, because after the destruction of its factory in Gostomel, in the material sense, there was actually nothing to move. Leonid had to revive the company almost from scratch. We will allocate a place in our office for his employees. I personally, knowing the local conditions for developing a furniture business, helped my colleague with advice in finding a profitable place to create his new production, in rental matters, and in other consulting.

And how many colleagues, acquaintances, and their families, when they arrived in our country as forced refugees, had to be helped in every possible way – especially with housing, and those who temporarily settled here, and others who were aiming for further departure abroad. He personally provided a roof over their heads in his estate to thirty newcomers – such a large furniture family was formed. But our own employees and their families also needed help.

We can also mention other forms of assistance to refugees in the first, most difficult months of the war for the country. In particular, the American USAID program transferred almost two million hryvnias for the needs of refugees through our company. First of all, for the purchase of beds, mattresses, blankets and pillows.

Pavlyk and his team, which had not stopped production for a single day since the start of the war, had to solve their own troubles caused by the war in parallel with helping the refugees. It would seem that what other troubles can a company complain about in the deep rear (although the rear in this missile war is a conditional concept for all corners of the country)? Spivakov is in trouble! Real trouble!

But no, it was not easy at the beginning of the war, and even now, the company “Pavlyk” is being conducted. It, which is almost on the border with the European Union, had permanent personnel problems even before the war. Local people were attracted by European salaries, and the outflow of labour from the region was very noticeable for local businesses. The war, of course, exacerbated the personnel problem even more. And also if we take into account mobilization needs. As with all domestic entrepreneurs, instability and currency jumps, which especially made business feverish in the first months of the Russian invasion, caused additional trouble, as did the state’s long-term non-return of VAT.

In the company, which always exported a significant part of its products not only to the European market but also further, with the beginning of the war, serious tension arose in its foreign economic activities. In relations with foreign clients, who have reason to worry that they will not be able to receive their orders within the stipulated time. Not without reason, because the company transported significant volumes of furniture for foreign customers by sea through the blockaded Odesa ports. I had to urgently look for other options. They were found, although, with considerable effort, it was possible to create new logistics routes quite quickly – through the ports of Constanta in Romania and Varna in Bulgaria. All these troubles, which could fit into our story in one sentence, were actually significant. It was necessary to lay new land routes, organize the reloading of goods from trucks to sea containers anew and quickly, control this process and much more that such logistics requires. And of course, such a logistical reorientation, as they say, costs a penny.

Nevertheless, part of the foreign customers had to be lost. Those who did not understand that in the difficult conditions in which Ukrainian furniture makers found themselves, but did not stop working, they should somehow meet, contribute, and not increase the demands on them. It was precise with those who did so that they parted. But that loss was not long-lasting. Having participated with UAFM in the Polish exhibition, we managed to find new ones.

And in general, Mr Yosif admitted, half of last year turned out to be such an intense marathon of solving such problems, about the possible occurrence of which they had no idea even a few months ago. But with considerable human effort and financial costs, the company managed not to leave the distance of this marathon. Although there is still enough that prevents it from unfolding in full force. So the marathon, although not so exhausting, continues…

– How would you assess the current state of the Ukrainian market?

– According to our feelings, evaluations and results on it, by the end of last year it had recovered for us to eighty percent, having sunk to forty or lower in the first months of the war. We managed to compensate for that internal decline in sales with exports. Now we understand how much we – already with five years of active export – were in a better position in these difficult times than those domestic furniture makers who only now began to find their way to foreign markets.