When we asked Andriy Kolesnyk, the owner of the company “Top Mebel”, what two years of war have changed in the company – in its managers and employees – we heard the following answer:

– It changed life values. As soon as the first enemy missiles fell on Ukraine, it became obvious: in such a situation, one should not think and care about business or money, but about people – one’s own family, families of employees. Of course, every conscientious entrepreneur cared about the interests of their employees even in peacetime – in parallel with running a business. But here, for a while, we had to leave the business altogether.

And when the majority of the female employees were more or less secured – mostly by leaving the capital – even then, I was not primarily concerned with business matters: like almost all Ukrainian entrepreneurs who did not join the ranks of the country’s defenders with weapons in their hands, I contributed to repelling the enemy with entrepreneurial opportunities. And these opportunities were: financial aid, product aid, volunteer work.

As for me specifically, as a representative of the Council of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry from the Volyn region, I initially joined efforts to help one of the local border guard units there. Jointly with my Volyn relatives: my wife’s brother, also a furniture maker, who, by the way, is still serving in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and Oleksandr Smolych, the president of the regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry. My wife Marina also did not stand aside, although she was in Vienna at the time: she helped transport cars needed by the army from Austria. And when a significant number of refugees began to return to their homes, she returned to Kyiv as well.

The pre-war funds were not yet exhausted, and then the object of our assistance became the 115th separate brigade. I regularly went to the front, delivering in a militarized way what the defenders needed. And recently, civilian troubles have also arisen. Of course, business-related – we need to bring the company into a strategic space for development.

– So, let’s return to your business – which is wholesale supplies of furniture to different regions – when did the company resume its usual activities?

– In a practical sense, it was not me, but my eldest son, who is already capable of doing this. The two younger ones are studying abroad. So I decided: since my sons are not in the ranks of the defenders, I, as a father, must replace one of them in fulfilling the sacred duty to the Motherland. I even had to hold a gun and wear military uniforms under the call sign “Grandpa Panas” as part of a voluntary territorial formation. In Kherson region, I came under heavy shelling, survived, but had to undergo treatment. If I did shoot videos during trips to the front and sent them to the Association’s office, it was only to encourage colleagues to follow my example.

And now about the business. Before reviving it, we calculated the losses. And they are significant. We had a large presence in Mariupol – a large product warehouse. It was completely destroyed. Dealers in occupied territories and those in combat zones or close to the front, such as Kharkiv and Kherson, which are constantly being destroyed, cannot sell furniture. And in better times, we had up to a hundred of them throughout Ukraine. Out of 17 of our own regional furniture showrooms, only those in the capital, Lviv, Odesa, and Rivne remain. We had to close most of them ourselves: the purchasing power of the population has decreased, and furniture is not an essential item, especially during wartime.

– Again, has the war somehow changed the approaches to the supply business?

– It has changed in the sense that we are no longer primarily an importing company. We are now actively establishing partnerships with domestic furniture manufacturers, so the former ratio of 70 to 30 in favor of imports is gradually shifting towards domestic furniture products. We are introducing a new sales system that will accelerate both this process and the increase in sales volumes. I am now more like a manager in the company. I travel to different regions, restoring old contacts and finding new partners. I have already been to Rivne, Lutsk, and I am preparing for a trip to Prykarpattia. I count on the effectiveness of such trips, as many colleagues from the Association have become friends since the time when I myself was in the leadership of the UAFM.