The products of the Bila Tserkva-based furniture factory Mebel Star are comfortable, aesthetically pleasing, and durable pieces made by skilled craftsmen using modern CNC equipment. And it’s no surprise — the private company ORNARES has been producing furniture for over 15 years and confidently claims that its kitchens, wardrobes, dressers, and closet systems are highly wear-resistant and can withstand heavy use, even under intense conditions.

The presence of a high-tech production base allows the factory to manufacture case furniture both in series and on demand — in any configuration and size.

This is how the company presents its production capabilities and competitive advantages on its website.

But is it managing to maintain this level today?

We spoke with Svitlana Alimova, head of the procurement department at Mebel Star, about how wartime realities have affected the company’s operations.

– From an economic perspective, the war has hit nearly all Ukrainian manufacturers hard: sales dropped, production volumes shrank, profits decreased, and there were significant staff losses — a reduction in manufacturing teams. But those businesses that withstood the toughest periods of the war, with strong resilience and creative management able to adapt to the new, often crisis-driven conditions, have begun to regain their pre-war market positions.

– Our factory, Mebel Star, is one of them,” confirms Ms. Alimova. “The decline in production and sales that we experienced in the first year of the war has been reduced. We haven’t yet returned to pre-war levels, but we’ve stabilized our operations. This has largely been thanks to exports, which now perform better than our domestic sales. One could say they are almost back to pre-war figures.

– It’s well known that many companies today struggle to stabilize not only due to economic factors but also due to staffing issues. Now that the market situation has improved and export logistics have resumed, not everyone is able to scale production because of a lack of workers…

– We feel this shortage too. To prevent production from halting, we’ve also begun relying more on women — a trend that’s becoming common in a country at war. We’re hiring women even for high-tech roles requiring skilled labor. In fact, some of our CNC machine operators are now women. Interestingly, some of them are learning this complex work faster than some men. Just recently, a woman called us saying she was ready to work as a forklift driver — we happen to have such an opening.

– So do you mainly hire new female employees specifically for these roles?

– Yes, the women working as machine operators were specifically hired and trained for these positions through public job postings.

– Stabilization is also a prerequisite for growth. Has your factory maintained its growth strategy after the 2022 crisis? Particularly through expanding the product range?

– Yes, recently we launched a new furniture line called Neo, featuring a sleek, handle-free design. And in a more classic style, we introduced a new swing-door wardrobe called Oscar. We constantly monitor market trends to stay in tune with furniture innovations.

– On your website, you offer customers an online design tool to create a 3D model of their future kitchen. Do people actually use it?

– Yes, because it’s easy and intuitive for anyone who knows how to use a computer.

– What goals has the factory set for this year?

– We’re expanding. We’ve acquired a new, larger facility. In addition to scaling our current operations, we plan to create a paint shop there. This will allow us to develop another product line — facades. Right now, we only offer film-covered facades, but we also want to produce painted ones.

By expanding our production capacity, we’ll be able to strengthen and grow our export positions even further — provided we have the necessary workforce. Like all Ukrainians, we live with the hope that the war will soon come to an end.