• Additional types of state support
• Calculation of losses suffered by businesses from Russian aggression
• Ukraine and Poland will set up a joint logistics company
• The Polish furniture industry helps Ukrainian refugees
• The famous German exhibition is cancelled

Read everything that happened last week in Ukraine and around the world that is relevant and interesting for the furniture maker in our digest:

1. The Verkhovna Rada adopted Bill №7275 on the status of the unemployed under martial law, which regulates, in particular, the number of unemployment benefits. There are provisions in the law that also apply to employers. In particular, for the duration of martial law + 180 calendar days after its termination or abolition, there will be an orderly mechanism for issuing and extending a work permit for foreigners and stateless persons in wartime. In addition, the government is allowed to introduce additional state support for internally displaced persons, the unemployed and employers, in particular: to provide compensation to the employer who employs unemployed internally displaced persons, the cost of such workers.

2. In Ukraine, initiated a method of calculating losses for businesses from Russian aggression.

The calculation of losses will be carried out by a combination of two approaches:

– general calculation based on information from the Tax Service. Data from similar periods (for example, the first quarters of 2021 and 2022) will be used as a basis for comparison to calculate the amount that the business did not earn during this period;

– data collection directly from the business, in which investors will indicate which objects were damaged as a result of racist actions. Thus, it is possible to collect information on losses of tangible assets of Ukrainian investors.

3. Ukraine and Poland have agreed to establish a joint logistics company, which will significantly increase the volume of rail transportation of Ukrainian exports to the EU and transit through Europe to world markets. The need for such a logistics centre is due to the need to expand the railways for goods that cannot be delivered through Russian-blocked ports and to block part of Ukraine’s railway network, which currently has no connections with Russia and Belarus.

4. Polish furniture companies have joined in helping their workers who work in their industries, as well as their families, says Michał Strzelecki, director of the Polish Chamber of Commerce. They helped Ukrainian workers move their families to Poland – organized apartments, material and financial assistance, creating jobs for newcomers.

And in general, the entire Polish furniture industry is involved in helping refugees, both at the local and national levels: companies provided material support to both reception points and humanitarian aid points, mainly furniture, mattresses, bedding and more.

5. Due to the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the furniture industry in Germany, it was decided to cancel the famous exhibition “ZOW”, scheduled for May 3-5 in Bad Salzuflen, and temporarily suspend the organization of further activities. The first doubts about the feasibility of holding “ZOW” appeared in December when it turned out that most companies are not ready to participate in this year’s furniture forum. Now the organizers of German exhibitions are focusing on Interzum, the world’s leading exhibition for furniture suppliers, but according to an old saying – where one door closes, others usually open – they are already thinking about possible new exhibition formats.