We have already written about our UAFM members, who were forced to move their productions by the war because it came close to them. They also talked about those who had plans for relocation, but for various reasons did not dare to carry them out. And this story is about the Chernihiv company “Art in Head“, which resorted to partial relocation.

As the director of the company, Anatoly Shkurko, told us, part of the production was transferred to the Ivano-Frankivsk region, already after the enemy, who managed to occupy a part of Chernihiv, was driven out of the region. But the Russians did not stop and still do not stop regularly shelling Chernihiv Oblast, that is, the danger of destruction remains, which prompted the company’s owners to make a partial relocation decision.

The territory of the company was not under temporary occupation, but it still suffered damage because our artillery was fired from it. Shots were fired and military equipment was camouflaged in the company’s warehouse. The machines remained undamaged, and some of them were taken to the West. There, on their base, they organized a production unit for the production of furniture to order, and at the place of permanent deployment, they resumed the production of serial products.

– Some furniture companies, which intended to move to the western regions, did not do so to a large extent because they were afraid of not forming labor teams there. It’s no secret that even before the war, local furniture factories complained about the lack of qualified personnel and their turnover due to mass departures of local residents to Europe for better earnings. But that didn’t stop you.

– And we did not manage to avoid such personnel troubles. But for us, the problem did not become large-scale, because after all, only part of the production had to be provided with personnel at the new location. They hired people, including immigrants, who were not familiar with furniture production, and trained them. Qualified workers were brought in for this – as teachers and mentors – from the main enterprise. Such preparation took quite a long time – two or three months – but we went for it, and the Ivano-Frankivsk branch became operational. But the personnel issue remains a serious concern for us, because some of the emigrants are returning home, and we need to train new machine operators to replace them.

– The proximity of the furniture enterprises there to the western borders gives their owners the opportunity to arrange export deliveries more easily. You probably also use this opportunity.

– We had foreign clients even before the war – in Poland, Moldova, Romania, and Croatia. With most of them, temporarily broken partnership relations were restored, but new ones were also acquired in exchange for those with whom, in the current circumstances, they have not yet found a common language.

– But the new ones usually – which many of our exporters complain about – mostly complicated the conditions of cooperation.

– It is so. They don’t even talk about prepayments: they insure themselves in every way. They want to pay when the ordered furniture will already be delivered to them or at least at the border. Of course, this creates difficulties for us, but still not such that we refuse to work with them.

We can say that the furniture makers are in a vise that presses on us from two sides. On the one hand, customers are pressing by refusing subscriptions, and on the other – suppliers of materials and components. They are the opposite: they demand advance payments from us and do not allow delays in payments, which also complicates the production of furniture.

– Did the recent international furniture exhibition in Poland, at which the company presented its transforming furniture, live up to your expectations?

– Yes, it is. There are good prospects for working with a number of new potential clients. Some have already given their proposals for the calculation of possible contracts, and agreements have already been concluded with some. So the exhibition catch, so to speak, is very good.