Heads of furniture companies, members of our association, in their presentation stories about their teams, nowadays one way or another focus on the topic of war. How it negatively affected the production activity of the company, and how it changed the usual state of affairs. Oleksandr Pilypenko, the head of the Cherkasy company “Viko Mebli“, began his story with this, ending it on a rather optimistic note.

– Enemy missile strikes have already been carried out on the cities, the occupying army has already advanced towards the capital, and our workers were all at their workplaces as one on the morning of February 24. Of course, there was no work that day. We gathered a team to inform them about the terrible disaster that befell the country this morning. However, they did not limit themselves to just words, in particular, encouraging ones – they gave the workers their wages and sent them home to prepare their families for the trials that awaited everyone.

Despite the fact that there was a real threat of occupation of the region, the company’s owners and management remained in the city, and after a week or two the factory, like probably all local production workers, started working for the army. Given our production specifics, we started sewing covers for bulletproof vests, the demand for which was huge in the first weeks of the war – both from front-line fighters and from soldiers and volunteers. In addition, so-called “unloading” equipment for soldiers was also sewn – for convenient placement and carrying of ammunition stores, grenades, means of communication, etc. The workers needed to perform these works had to be individually brought to the factory and taken home, because public transport did not work. Other materials that were available at the beginning of the war and were not used for sewing military equipment, the company actually distributed free of charge – foam for mattresses to the immigrants who arrived en masse in the city, sintepon for sleeping bags and clothes.

When the enemy was pushed back from Kyiv, and our region was safe from the threat of enemy invasion, the factory took up its usual furniture business. Not because some prospects were opening up, but in spite of the war – to prove that it did not break us, that we are stronger. We started furniture production even against the laws of business, knowing that we would work for an unknown amount of time, at best, “to zero”.

– And yet the restored production of upholstered furniture did not become unprofitable for the company?

– And thanks to our traditional partners – large retail chains – who, just like before the war, began to take our products for sale to end consumers. And this is despite the fact that some of them – such as the stores of the chain “33 square meters” – are located practically in the line of fire. For example, in the Kherson region. We are also grateful to the suppliers, who understood how difficult it is for us to start production in wartime conditions, so they helped in every possible way. The most important thing is that they postponed the calculations and did not interrupt the supply of components for our sofas, although we know that some of them also work under fire.

– Were they pre-war models, or did you manage to update the range?

– We still mainly sell our pre-war models, although, in the summer and autumn, we were able to supplement the model range with new developments.

– Almost all of our export-oriented manufacturers were hit hard by the war…

– Before the war, our company had a wide export geography. Thanks to this, last year they planned to double the volume of production. Instead, we are now holding on to eighty percent of the pre-war indicator. And we consider that a good indicator for the present time.

At the beginning of last year, we were ready to supply upholstered furniture to the US market as well – sea containers were already purchased for this purpose. Currently, export by sea is still not possible. As soon as they become safe, we will definitely bring this matter to an end, which is important for the development of the company.

In the fall, he visited a well-known international exhibition in Poland and noted with sadness that the war really dealt a tangible blow to the competitiveness of the domestic furniture industry. Before the war, we were already a worthy competitor to the same Poles, and now, due to the objective increase in the price of Ukrainian furniture, it is becoming difficult to compete with European and Asian manufacturers, who also have a hard time, but not as hard as us. Despite that, I consider all our product manufacturers – of course, and fellow furniture makers too – heroes. The heroes of the rear, who in extremely difficult conditions withstand the impact of adversity, work on the edge of survival so that the national economy does not fall to its knees, to satisfy the people’s vital needs, and also help the army in every possible way. By the way, our company still continues to work for the needs of the army, sewing not only body armor and “unloaders”, but also sleeping bags for soldiers.