That’s how the furniture company “BLEST” once again confirmed that it is one of the most powerful representatives of the domestic furniture industry. And such confirmation is the fact that now, in the difficult conditions of martial law, it has demonstrated a telling testimony of its development by creating its new production base near Brovary, as PR director Oleksandr Metelskyi told.

– Given the fact that the end of the war is not yet in sight, this is a rather brave business move by the company owner.

– The project aimed at expanding the production of furniture for two of our lines – premium Individual and children’s BlestKids – was started even before the full-scale war, and was at the stage of its completion in the summer. When the enemy was standing near the capital and where, in fact, the new production was located, it was time to think about its completion, but when the russian troops were pushed beyond the borders of the region, they still decided to complete the started project of creating, in fact, a new self-sufficient furniture factory, without waiting for the final end of the war, in order to defy it and carry out what they had planned to do this year. And already at the beginning of summer, it was in order.

And in the first weeks of the war, the factories in Cherkasy and Kyiv, their own chain of furniture stores, were completely idle: its beginning was as shocking for the company as it was for all other Ukrainian manufacturers – however, not only manufacturers. Only in the middle of April, the production shops of the furniture factories were partially operational. And so the company’s furniture stores in the capital also opened their doors, and regional dealers became active in those areas that were not under occupation and where hostilities were not directly fought. Quite quickly it was possible to “close” those orders whose timely execution was interrupted by the war. Although they were completing the pre-war contracts with very perceptible difficulty due to the fact that part of the supply chains of materials and components were cut off. Nevertheless, we managed not to disappoint our customers either with the quality of the furniture or with its design and construction.

– Not only due to problems with the supply of imported components and materials, but also due to the fact that the domestic consumer became impoverished in the war, and therefore our furniture market narrowed significantly and, as some say, some companies, which, like yours, furnished in high price parameters, forced to reorient their production to the furniture of lower classes…

– But it’s not really for us. And even the fact that we set up a new production near Brovary already during the war, but it did not change its original purpose – to produce premium-class furniture – is evidence of the unchanging nature of our position on this matter. I will explain why. We value the reputation of our brand very much, the fact that we are known not only in the domestic market as a manufacturer of high-quality furniture. Therefore, we cannot allow this reputation to be shaken for the sake of temporary benefits. Although I admit, there was such a temptation, and a certain step was even taken in this direction, creating several constructively simpler models in the PractikaSofa furniture line, which is positioned in the middle price segment, we still do not plan to go down to the very bottom – because we have already become, one might say, hostages of their reputation.

– Apparently, only a brave will was not enough – although it is decisive in any undertaking – for the decision to invest significant funds in the development of the company in such an unfavourable time for business, the same significant funds were needed for this…

– In this sense, to a large extent, exports helped. “ВЛEST” has long been not just an export-oriented company, but one of the largest exporters in the industry. In addition, our main trading partners are those countries – Canada, Slovakia, Baltic Lithuania, Latvia, Georgia, Moldova – which help Ukraine now and by intensifying the purchase of Ukrainian goods, including our furniture. Therefore, it was precisely the export revenues that largely became the financial foundation of the company’s development in the conditions of martial law. After people fleeing the war began to return to their homes, some of which were damaged, the domestic market also revived somewhat.

… – And you immediately offered him trade promotions of important social importance, which you can find out about on the company’s website…

– Yes, we are talking about 15 percent discounts on our furniture from various collections, which we provide to the families of soldiers, policemen, national guardsmen, emergency workers, displaced persons and citizens whose homes were damaged as a result of hostile actions. And this action worked. About twenty percent of domestic sales are purchased by military personnel.

But this is not the only way we got involved in philanthropy, which is characteristic of most domestic entrepreneurs today. Since the beginning of the summer, we have started transferring five percent of the sales amount to the charity fund supporting the Ukrainian army “All4Ukraine”. I will say more, this fund was created by the owner of our company – Serhii Savchenko, and it has already acquired the status of international.