For Ukrainian businesses, operating under martial law — which began with russian aggression — became largely a crisis. The difficult economic situation and new market realities complicated life for all furniture manufacturers who are members of the Ukrainian Association of Furniture Manufacturers, but almost none of them, so to speak, dropped out. On the contrary, many of them have shown growth in production and sales, and significant progress in development. And it’s clear why: every crisis mobilizes and activates entrepreneurial creativity.

In this context, the Chernihiv furniture factory “Neman”, which this story is about, has also undergone necessary changes. Olena Bura, its commercial director, explained those changes — and how they ultimately had a positive impact on the company’s “well-being”.

– You could say that the factory’s product range has shifted by 99 percent. Before the war, we produced case furniture, mainly bedroom sets. The war made the former logistics model unprofitable — transporting bulky furniture became difficult. In addition, rising electricity prices and energy outages made MDF vacuuming — essential for case furniture production — expensive and troublesome. So we stopped that product line and almost completely focused on dining furniture production.

We still offer a few series of dressers, but they are made to order. Same with kitchens.

– Does the dining group include chairs as well?

– We never produced chairs. We used to complete dining sets with imported chairs purchased from Turkey. Now we’ve stopped because doing business with the former supplier is no longer profitable. We are looking for a new partner — someone more convenient for us, mainly in terms of assortment. Although price and quality are also important.

– Are you considering manufacturing chairs yourself?

– That would require significant investment, organizing a new workshop, launching new production processes — which is unrealistic in the current situation. Plus, we would still have to import upholstery fabrics from Turkey.

– How often do you expand the table assortment with new models?

– With new models as well, but more often with new decors. It’s important to note that recently we’ve been actively “escaping” from mass-market competition into a higher price segment, preferring exclusivity — mostly in terms of colors. We see more value in producing smaller volumes but with higher margins.

– Your company has opened another production site in Rivne. Was this a result of relocation? Many manufacturers from the east and north of Ukraine have moved west for safety.

– No, we didn’t relocate — our main factory continues operating in Chernihiv. In our case, it’s more accurate to say the company expanded. Why Rivne? We had a warehouse there. So we converted it into a production facility.

– Does it produce the same products as the main factory, or something different?

– Mostly the same products. The only difference is that the Rivne branch focuses more on top models. But that division is conditional. For example, if we receive an order for a top table model from Kyiv, we will produce it in Chernihiv — the logistics are cheaper.

– For your current specialization, wouldn’t it be logical to produce office furniture as well?

– Possibly, but we haven’t yet exhausted all the possibilities for expanding our current range — dining tables, their extendable and transformer versions. For example, in the future we may veneer tabletops or use HPL materials.

– And what about coffee tables?

– They are usually sold as part of case furniture sets. It’s hard to sell such a product separately. Since the company has almost completely moved away from case furniture production, coffee tables have also disappeared from our assortment.

– Proximity to the western border opens up better export opportunities for Ukrainian manufacturers. Do you export your products?

– We don’t have regular and stable exports yet. There are some retail sales. Mainly thanks to one foreign representative office — in Bulgaria. There’s a warehouse and an online store. For now, that’s it.