The first wartime furniture investment project is being implemented in Ukraine.

The American company “HOME ESSENTIALS”, a world leader in the production and rental of furniture and interior items, whose European office is in Madrid, has registered a subsidiary company “HOME ESSENTIALS UKRAINE” in Ukraine, is creating a factory for the production of mattresses and furniture in Kremenets, Ternopil region. It is planned that in the second quarter of next year, employing more than fifty workers, the factory will release its first products.

The Ukrainian Association of Furniture Manufacturers is directly related to this project because it was Oksana Donska, a member of the board of UAFM, and director of the «Furniture of Ukraine Business Expo», who actually brought this American investor to Ukraine. According to her story, she met Christopher Ixline, the owner of HOME ESSENTIALS, at this year’s Milan exhibition. As it turned out during the acquaintance, he had been looking closely at Ukraine for a long time, intending to create a production division of his business here as well. I already had a fairly thorough understanding of our market. Realizing that this is not just a distant sight for him, but a firm and even urgent intention, since the American entrepreneur was not frightened by the important fact that Ukraine is currently at war, Ms. Oksana decided that it would be a sin to waste such an opportunity – to enrich the Ukrainian furniture industry by another manufacturing company. The more so, with foreign capital and even more so, in such a difficult time for Ukraine.

“I understood,” says Ms. Oksana, “in order for the American businessman’s investment intention not to disappear after his arrival in the warring country, but to have a practical continuation, it was necessary to “hand it over to reliable hands.” To an experienced investment manager who, with the help of UAFM, would not only be able to convince Chris of the investment attractiveness of Ukraine even at such a time, but would also be able to organizationally, legally, and consultatively accompany the process of transitioning the investment intention of an interested American into the plane of his specific Ukrainian furniture-making project. And I knew such a specialist – Volodymyr Vasylevskyi from Ternopil Oblast. Therefore, it is not surprising that this investment project is currently being implemented in the Ternopil region.”

“I have every reason to emphasize the uniqueness of this investment project,” Volodymyr Vasylevskyi, founder and head of the Institute of Sustainable Regional Development, which is a public organization and functions in an all-Ukrainian format, told us in turn, although its head office is in Ternopil. – From the meeting with Chris Ixline, his first arrival in Ukraine, to the registration of the company “HOME ESSENTIALS UKRAINE” only four places passed. This is a record short term for investment projects of this kind and is truly unique given the fact that this is almost the first investment project that was implemented so quickly in Ukraine during the war. By the way, last year we managed to bring a powerful Belgian investor, the furniture fabric manufacturer “Monks International” to the region. So this “establishment” lasted one and a half years. And this is in peacetime.

Not because I am from Ternopil and could do everything possible to make this investment project implemented in our region – Chris was guided by purely practical factors in making such a choice. The already mentioned Belgian textile company for the production of mattress pads and furniture fabrics has launched production in the region, in the products of which its future production will have a direct interest. This is the first benefit. In addition, the leadership of the Ternopil region and the Kremenets community guaranteed the company owner all kinds of support at all levels of local self-government.

The company “HOME ESSENTIALS UKRAINE” will have two production locations: in Kremenets and in one of the nearby villages (it is planned at the first stage to produce mattresses, the production of which the parent company mainly specializes in, and in the future also furniture). In order for production to start successfully in the second quarter of 2023, it is planned to invest from 0.5 to 1 million dollars. Premises have already been found that will be rented for production needs, for which the necessary equipment will be purchased. Employees are recruited, a circle of suppliers is formed, and markets and product sales channels are specified. The owner plans to create a brand showroom in Kremenets, where the company’s office will also be located. I will casually say that Chris will live here for the whole next year – until he finally fixes the production activities of the company.”

The project is launched and begins the countdown of its history. We at the Ukrainian Association of Furniture Manufacturers are, of course, happy about this, as well as direct involvement in its implementation. It should be so because all kinds of assistance in attracting investments in the domestic furniture industry are our statutory duty and an important part of our daily work. That is why UAFM has become the coordination center for the industry, where requests from potential investors are received, to whom we can provide significant volumes of information and statistical data about the Ukrainian market – its prospects and attractive opportunities.

Create detailed “road maps” for investors, orienting and directing them to those territorial communities of the country that may be the most profitable for future projects.

It will not be superfluous to give more information about the Institute of Sustainable Regional Development, as it is not excluded that the Kremenets investment furniture project will not be the last implemented in the Commonwealth with it.

Volodymyr Vasylevsky said that the main goal of his public organization is to help increase the competitiveness of communities, which involves working with investors, supporting investment projects, creating industrial parks, preparing grant applications for communities to finance development projects with funds from international donors, and developing investment analytics. The Institute has contacts with most foreign embassies, many investment companies, and most industry associations are aware of its activities. The uniqueness of the expertise of the institute’s team is that it has developed and owns a database of the best industrial premises and land plots in the Ternopil region, which may be of interest to potential investors. A strong team and such information make it possible to offer an attractive offer to any investor.