1. The experts of the furniture industry, summing up the results of the past year, which was a record year for the entire economy of the country, came to the conclusion: since a significant part of raw materials, accessories, and consumables are imported from other countries for foreign currency, and the hryvnia has depreciated by about half, furniture factories were forced to raise during the year 2-3 times the selling price of their products, at least 50% in total.

2. It is expected that from July 1, the simplified tax system with a rate of 2% for businesses with a turnover of up to UAH 10 billion will be abolished. According to People’s Deputy Danylo Hetmantsev, it was “the factor that, among others, revived enterprises, and has already played its role.”

3. Heads of Ukrainian enterprises expect a reduction in the number of employees in the next 12 months. At the same time, they will be forced to raise salaries. This is the result of a survey conducted by the National Bank at the end of the year. The highest expectations are for trade enterprises and large enterprises. The lowest expectations are in extractive industry enterprises and in small enterprises.

4. The real estate market in Ukraine is in an imbalance due to a sharp drop in buyer activity and unreasonably high prices – such a disappointing fact was stated by the National Bank. And it will continue, if the state does not introduce support programs, until the end of the war. Such a state is disappointing, of course, for furniture makers, whose sales largely depend on the number of homes sold.

5. In order to achieve parity of responsibility, the State Regulatory Service proposes to increase fines for officials guilty of excessive administrative pressure on business by at least 100 times – from 170-340 to 17-34 thousand hryvnias. And also give her the right to impose a fine on the official without the involvement of the court, and if he does not agree, then give the opportunity to appeal.

6. Acting trainer and organizer of “Kinolaboratoriya” Andriy Klymenkov is convinced that the profession of an actor is most closely related to the profession of a manager: both involve working with people, in particular through influencing them. Therefore, acquiring acting skills will also be useful for entrepreneurs – for greater self-confidence and the ability to present oneself sincerely.

7. Business psychologists are sure that those businesses that find opportunities to work – and sometimes develop – under fire, in conditions of energy blackouts, have great prospects, because they get a unique experience of orientation in conditions of uncertainty, quick decision-making, and correct determination of priorities.

8. Among the scientific developments of the past year, which are related to furniture, is the method of production of ecological veneer using film multilayer thermoplastic glue based on polyethylene and its copolymers. The glue contains several layers with different physical and chemical characteristics, some of which are required for adhesion to the wood, and the rest – for the reliability of the adhesive material itself.

9. American film actor and producer Brad Pitt plans to end his career in the film industry. But not only the news about the end of the cult actor’s film career is interesting, but also the fact that he plans to engage in the furniture business, viticulture, and the creation of art objects.

10. Design laboratory “Space10”  (a unit of “IKEA”) created the Carbon Banks technology, thanks to which you can combine an item of furniture (in this case, a chair) with an NFT token in the form of a seed, from which an interactive tree grows over time. The tree’s flowering is the logical end of its life, just like nature. It signals that it is time to send the piece of furniture for recycling.