Among the list of companies that are members of UAFM, whose stories about their state of affairs under wartime conditions we have already published on our website, Mukachevo-based “Splitwood” is not the first of the companies that predominantly export their products, whose management makes it clear that even exporters are not doing so well these days. Although they are still better off a priori than their colleagues who, until 2022, sold their products only on the domestic market, and only when the war significantly narrowed its opportunities did they start looking for ways out abroad.

At the beginning of the enemy invasion of our land, the problems for exporters were complicated transport logistics and foreign exchange restrictions imposed by the state. Relief came later in this regard, but since last year, the Poles have started to complicate the lives of Ukrainian exporters in their own way.

– They made it difficult – oh yes! – agrees Oleksandr Palchenko, owner of the company “Splitwood” – They made it difficult because foreign clients – at least ours for sure – are concerned exclusively with their own business interests, and our difficulties do not ‘bother’ them at all, as they say. Neither the fact that you are working in wartime conditions, nor the fact that you may experience force majeure circumstances because of this – you must in any case ensure what is stipulated by the pre-war contracts.

If the war that has been going on for the third year is not hitting them as painfully as it is hitting us, it is still taking a noticeable toll on them. In the countries where we export, the situation is not the best either, and therefore the same is true for our counterparties: fewer goods, including furniture, are being sold, they are becoming more expensive, so it is hardly to be expected that in such conditions they will make any concessions for us.

– Your export products are glued furniture blanks, from which your foreign clients manufacture furniture. What breeds are in demand from them, and do you in turn not have problems with your suppliers of raw materials – rough unprocessed blanks?

– But tell me, what comes without problems in the current time? And purchasing wood is not easy these days. Some partners are shutting down due to a lack of personnel, others are reducing harvesting volumes. All forestry enterprises are not only increasing the price for unprocessed wood, but also there is such a price hustle and bustle at auctions that it is difficult for buyers to plan purchasing raw materials in order to have stabilizing stocks. Because of this, we are constantly in some kind of stress. We have to come up with something, look for better options. And all this means additional troubles and expenses.

As for the wood species from which we make components for furniture manufacturing, these are the most common for export – oak and beech.

– Over the two-plus years of the war, the companies in our industry are still somehow – each in their own way – adapting to the still unfavorable business conditions, stabilizing, and some manage to take certain steps in their development. What gives “Splitwood” the opportunity to remain, as they say, in the ranks?

– Mainly, it’s the personnel. And I won’t be original in this statement. And in the current conditions of ever-increasing mobilization needs, the role of personnel becomes more significant by many times. We are now holding on due to the presence of the old – in the sense of long-working in the company – personnel guard, who has not yet been affected by mobilization. Of course, we understand that nowadays it is not possible to talk about its reliability in the long term.

– But we already have a new category of employees – veterans. I am talking about the return to the team of previously demobilized employees who have been through the front line. Not without loss of health. This is sad, but gratifying in the sense that they have returned alive and are now much needed by the company.

– Let’s return to the thesis that traditional exporters are also having a hard time these days. In view of this, you are probably forced to look for opportunities to expand your pre-war client base.

– Of course, we are constantly searching. We monitor the Internet, looking in Poland, for example, for furniture companies that are still doing more or less confidently in the market, and we try to contact them and interest them with our offer.

The best tool for this, of course, is exhibitions. Unfortunately, due to the well-known prohibitive circumstances, our employees – and these are precisely the men who are competent to negotiate with potential clients – are unable to attend exhibitions. Including those whose participation is facilitated by UAM. But thanks to the employees of the management, who share with us the contact and other useful information collected at such international exhibitions, we are aware of current industry trends and have additional opportunities to search for new foreign clients.