Those company owners who were faced with the need to relocate their production to other regions of the country during the war know very well what a difficult, troublesome and expensive business it is in the current conditions. And what can we say about the capital company “M.A.K.A.R.” (its products are known under the trade mark “Cubus”), which last year had to carry out as many as two relocations. We will tell you more about this relocation “odyssey” from the words of its owner Oleksandr Mydlovets.

It turned out that the company has an office and a warehouse for the shipment of products in Kyiv, and two of its production subdivisions were located in different regions before the war: in Rivne and in Malin, Zhytomyr region. At the beginning of the war, Malyn found itself fifteen kilometres from the war zone, and it was necessary to save the workshop there from possible destruction or destruction. They decided to move the equipment to Rivne, and there to rent a new admixture so that both shops would be in one place. It turned out to be not so easy to take the equipment out of Malin: truck drivers agreed to go to the dangerous area for a “cosmic” price. In the end, they found a local man who agreed to transport at a more or less acceptable price.

But another trouble awaited the company. When the truck was almost on its way, the owner of the premises in Rivne, with whom the lease was agreed, unexpectedly raised its price… five times. And how did Oleksandr not fall into despair?!

Colleagues from the Association – the company “Eskada-M” – helped out, for which Oleksandr is infinitely grateful to its managers. “Squadrons” provided temporary shelter to the arriving equipment and unloaded it themselves. Another space was rented, a new team of local people was recruited, and production, which was eventually already in one place, was up and running in May.

And so it worked for several months. It would seem that everything is fine. But no! Oleksandr Mulyav was troubled by management discomfort: the company’s office and warehouse in Kyiv, production in Rivne. Because of this, there are endless business trips, because the presence of the manager is needed both here and there. In addition, the costs of transporting the finished product from Rivne to the Kyiv warehouse have increased. In the end, after considering and calculating everything, I was convinced: it is necessary to continue to group in order to gather the entire company in one place – in Kyiv. And another relocation took place from October to the end of the year – in the opposite direction.

– Indeed, last year seemed to be very troublesome for the company, which, like for everyone, was already difficult…

– And yet, between these moves, we also managed to try out at two international exhibitions – in Poland and Germany – with the assistance of UAFM, to ship the first batch of products for “Epicenter” in wartime conditions, as well as an export order to Germany, for a client, with whom they contacted during the first UAFM B2B exhibition. Just as long blackouts began, generators had not yet been purchased, so export products were packed for shipment with flashlights.

– Your beds of a simple but reliable design, in particular, two-tiered models, intended also for furnishing hostesses, should have increased demand with the beginning of the war. For example, for the furnishing of rooms for the accommodation of displaced persons, this need increased many times last year. Your moves at that time probably did not allow you to take advantage of such a favorable situation for your products?

– Yes, it is. But we still did not remain aloof from such a social need. In fact, on a volunteer basis, at the request of our Association, six hundred beds were made last year just for resettlement needs. However, we were provided a slab and compensated consumables for this. We continue to cooperate with various foundations for charitable purposes.

– You periodically present new product samples in social networks. Are these developments for export?

– There are some, but not only. For example, now the best-seller in the domestic market is a bed model developed before the war, which was prevented from being put into production in time by the war. When post-relocation production was established in Rivne, this model was immediately put into production.

– At the end of our conversation, I would like to ask the following: why do you risk moving production to the capital, when the enemy began to inflict constant missile and drone strikes on it?

– Belief in the victory of Ukraine turned out to be stronger than risk fears. I will say more. This year, we will start investing in expanding our production facilities in the capital, having already purchased new equipment worth 150,000 dollars. Because we understand that a construction boom will certainly begin in Ukraine to restore what was destroyed by the enemy, and as a result, the need for furniture will increase significantly. And in those that we produce. That is why we strive to be ready to respond to the future social request by that time.