We offer to your attention an interview with Ihor Lukyanenko, manager of the transport department of OPTIMA-PHARM.LTD.
We have an intention to tell you, how our partners successfully overcome difficulties and develop their business during the war to support and motivate all our clients, and to show, that together we are strong.
Roman Denisenko, pr-manager of Omega: More than a year the all-out war continues in Ukraine. Everyone clearly understands that this is a big challenge, especially for business. Tell us, please, how quick were you able to adapt to new conditions?
Ihor, manager of the transport department of OPTIMA-PHARM.LTD: From the beginning of the all-out invasion we had a couple of days in hesitation, doing almost nothing. But we restored our full-scale working very fast, because our speciality – medicines delivering - was much necessary that time as to military forces, and to ordinary people.
I can say, we haven`t stopped.
When we started working, the first problem we met was logistics.
Many employees left Kyiv, many of them couldn`t arrive at work, but step by step all of us gathered together: as company managements, and employees, – and so more than a year and a half we have been working with no break.
Roman: Considering the dynamics of your enterprise developing during last year, how much were you successful to restore it, comparing to its condition at the beginning of the war?
Ihor: Frankly speaking, the plan for enterprise development for this period was completely different before the war.
As today we are living in such a situation, which can be changing any day and change our work too, so we always adapt our plans to it.
Of course, as many other companies did, we unfortunately lost our branches, which now are located or long have been located on occupied territories. They are entirely destroyed, as well as our transport vehicles and all the production were destroyed during occupation.
But despite all difficulties and powerful outside challenges, our company works and develops. Approximately half a year or a year we did not receive any profit, but we had an understanding that we were needed, and we mustn`t stop. And this was the right decision. We have restored fully for last half a year in our field along with other Ukrainian businesses.
Roman: Our company supports all our clients, providing a lot of services and developing old ones. Such as program of selection, chat-bots on Telegram and Viber, electronic document flow. Tell us, please, which of them do you use? How comfortable are they for you? Specifically, how comfortable is it for you to search for and select necessary auto parts in our program of selection?
Ihor: Your program of selection auto parts is very comfortable, despite of other partners we are also working with.
I like its interface and simplicity in usage. Also I want to add that, as the all-out invasion started, literally a couple of days before it we had concluded an agreement on safe storage and distribution of necessary to us auto parts from Omega distributors in our warehouse, and we used it on approximately 70%.
This gave us an opportunity to hold on without deliveries of spare parts, as other partners that time much minimized or entirely stopped their working and delivering of goods; so thanks to the use of these spare parts we provided our requirements of repair on 70%. And we are greatly thankful to Omega for that.
Roman: How do you find our delivery service? Can you see some improvements in its work for last year?
Ihor: Actually, right now it is hard to compare the situation with deliveries with times before war, as now we all are working under extremely difficult conditions. Of course, we would like to receive spare parts more quickly, so in the day of ordering; this would speed up the process of our autopark renovation.
Although, it is also basically all right to receive all necessary auto parts in time on the next day.
The situation in our enterprise is as follows: when the autopark is newer, than 1-2 deliveries per day are enough.
The cars from the autopark, which have been there already for more than 5 years, and have more than 250-300 km mileage, require more attention in maintenance. So not everything can be planned; and so it would be convenient for us, if the number of deliveries for their maintenance was greater.
When you plan a certain repair, you order a delivery of certain spare parts. However, during the process of dismantling or already repairing, some peculiarities arise, which should be sorted out; so the need to require more spare parts arises too. And at this point we face a small problem of underutilization with necessary auto parts the regional Omega warehouse on the Left Bank in Kyiv. Of course, in this case, we order goods from the central Omega warehouse, but delivering than is quite longer, as we are located on the Left Bank.
But our fruitful cooperation for many years neutralizes these small inconveniences, – and Omega helps us to deal with all our requirements quite successfully.
Roman: Soon enough Omega plans to open a warehouse on the Right Bank in Kyiv, so we hope this could so much as possible satisfy your inquiry as to quite faster delivery of necessary auto parts.
The world gradually moves from paper documents to electronic, and we keep up with the times – as at the same time it spares as natural resources, and your time and money. Do you work with our electronic document flow? Tell us about your impressions on working with it.
Ihor: Yes, we work. I like the electronic document flow, it really takes less time; however, we haven`t fully moved from that bureaucracy, – so some confirming documents are required for accounting. For this reason we still make copies of documents on paper too. But, I think, soon everything will change, and we will take a way into the future, where we have only fast and convenient electronic document flow.
Roman: How can you estimate working with your personal manager from Omega? Is it comfortable and convenient for you to work with them?
Ihor: Yes, it is much convenient to work with Volodimir. He has been our manager for quite a long time, and he always feeds back to all our inquiries. There hasn`t been an issue yet, he couldn`t help to solve.
Roman: These days we all are much thankful to the Armed Forces for ability to live and work. Omega directly takes part in helping our army, providing cars and maintaining regular fundraisings for army needs. Can you tell, please, do you and your team also do some volunteering? If you do, tell us, please, about it in detail.
Ihor: Our company also does active volunteering, and we have already sent many transport vehicles to front line, where they are necessary. Quite a big number of vehicles are now prepared to be sent.
Also, from the very beginning of the all-out invasion, we have always sent medicines and financial support to our army men.
In winter we were producing and sending means for heat conservation for the Armed Forces needs.
We are also constantly in touch with our employees, who are located in active combat zone, we support them and meet all their actual demands.
Also we are working on repairing transport vehicles for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In particular, we have already repaired two ambulance cars.
Roman: Which achievements of your enterprise for last year are you mostly proud of?
Ihor: I think, our biggest achievement is that our company has stood working and kept its employees, to whom we stably and timely pay salary.
And, of course, if the company is working, it brings benefit to the country on the whole. Achievements today are undoubtedly necessary as on military front line, and on non-military too. So together to the Victory.
Roman: Thank you for such an interesting and inspiring conversation. See you!