A year ago, around the end of April, the name of the capital production and trading company "Dukor," which owns three brand names, with the most well-known being "KIDIGO" (production of children's playgrounds and sports facilities), appeared in dozens of news reports. Perhaps, it was one of the first companies at that time to resort to business relocation.

Here is what was reported: "The multifaceted company 'Dukor' has moved from Kyiv to the town of Dolyna in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. In addition to its main activities, which include the production of children's and sports goods, outdoor furniture, the company will start sewing military clothing and, presumably, goods for displaced persons. The sewing workshop has already been relocated, and fabric has been purchased. The plan is to sell military and displaced persons' clothing at cost. Besides the company's own employees who agreed to relocate here, local residents with relevant experience will also be involved in clothing production."

"The main task now is to launch the sewing workshop," says Bohdan Dumenko, the owner and manager of the company. "Our main production, the manufacture of children's playgrounds, could not be moved because it is located in the temporarily occupied territory."

Here is what Bohdan Dumenko told us today:

Our main factory was located near the Hostomel airport, and the warehouse was near Kotsiubynske, so it is clear that with the start of the war, production suddenly and completely ceased. The relocated sewing workshop was quickly launched in Ivano-Frankivsk thanks to the support of the local authorities (by the way, the warehouse was also relocated there), and local production started only in May - the production of children's playgrounds in the Borodiany district and sewing in Kyiv. A large number of pre-war orders needed to be completed, and when we dealt with them, there were practically no new ones. It is understandable: it's not the time to arrange entertainment for children. The sewing workshop saved us - sewing children's products, as sewing military clothing provided minimal profit: this product was practically sold at cost. Currently, we continue to sew military clothing under the same conditions.

To pay people's salaries, we started producing military stoves for heating and cooking, as we constantly and skillfully work with metal. Again, for the needs of the army (they were also supplied practically at cost); we wanted to start producing civilian stoves of the "burzhui" type for household use, but this initiative did not turn out to be promising. As for the main product, we worked "on stock" in the hope that the market situation in the country would improve with each passing month. This year justifies such expectations, starting from the first quarter.

At the same time, we diligently searched for new sales markets, including abroad. Not without success, although we are far from the pre-war volume of orders. We currently have customers in Moldova and Estonia. There were other inquiries, but they have not proven to be effective yet.

We had high hopes for last year. The previous, 21st, was very successful for the company, so we expected the 22nd not only to consolidate the achievements but also to achieve even better results. It turned out that we halved the pre-war indicators. But we did not lose perseverance in quickly restoring pre-war positions.

The war prevented us from participating in the Chinese exhibition in Guangzhou, which we regularly attended because, being active importers, we always found products there that were necessary for our business, as well as local manufacturers who fulfilled some orders for us. But it was pleasing that this year in March, domestic exhibitions were revived, and the company took part in one of them - the construction exhibition.

The economic situation in the country remains difficult, but the company does not complain about it. As I mentioned earlier, we actively search for new markets, and quite successfully. The range of products has expanded thanks to military items. We continue to develop new forms, new designs, or improve existing ones in the category of the main products - children's playgrounds, sports facilities, and outdoor furniture. The assortment of sewing products is also being updated.