"Bdzholoviz" trailers from the Cherkasy region went to customers all over Ukraine
Before the war, entrepreneur Andriy Kaidash had his own workshop in Vasylivka, the town in the Zaporizhzhia region, where he manufactured car trailers for transporting beehives, named "Bdzholoviz". Orders from beekeepers were booked several months in advance, work was in a full swing.
Since the beginning of russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, production has stopped, and the town was occupied on the second day of the war.
"We couldn't think of any kind of work, as it was dangerous. My family hid in the basement for several months. The fighting immediately began in the city. We had no water, the electricity was regularly turned off due to military actions.", Andriy recalls the first days of the war.
The occupiers came to his workshop with weapons, because the man had many machines for processing and welding metal – lathes, drills, and auxiliary metalworking tools.
"I told the people, who came, that it was not my property, there were no keys and I couldn't help. But one day they broke the locks and went inside. Later, when I visited the place, I saw them repairing something on machines, though nothing was stolen, all the tools were in place."
At the end of April, the man and his family decided to leave the occupation. It was necessary to drive through several enemy checkpoints. The probability that the machine or tools would be taken away was very high, so Andriy took only one welding machine with him.
"There were six such devices in my workshop, I decided to take one, even if they take it away, it wouldn't be so bad,", the entrepreneur shared.
That welding machine, as well as the large trailer, which Andriy used to carry his equipment, were let through the checkpoint. In April there were so-called "green corridors", people were allowed to cross the occupied territory to move to free Ukraine. The family arrived in Zaporizhzhia, which is the nearest Ukrainian city, 40 kilometers from Vasylivka.
Before the war, the entrepreneur received many pre-orders for the production of "Bdzholoviz" trailers, he was paid in advance.
"I felt a great responsibility for these unshipped orders, so I had to start working. This is impossible in the occupation, so I had to leave to Ukrainian territory."
Since trailer frames require galvanizing, and the enterprise is located in Cherkasy, Andriy decided to set up his workshop in that region. So he left Zaporizhzhia for Cherkasy.
"While looking for a production facility, we met a wonderful person, Oleksandr Korol, a local successful entrepreneur. He offered his house to live in. He also helped with the contacts of the tenant of the production facility. I am very grateful that during the war there are people who are ready to help," Andriy said.
In Svydivok, the village in the Cherkasy region, he rented industrial premises, bought production machines, welding machines, and hired his relatives.
The process of manufacturing trailers has become longer, as there is not enough equipment, workers, and working capital. But Andriy doesn't lose optimism and ships the order. Several trailers have already been manufactured in the workshop at the new location for customers from the Kyiv, Lviv, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Cherkasy regions.
"When we made the first trailers at the new location, I sighed a little with relief. After all, I started giving customers orders that they had been waiting for several months. It's a pleasant feeling, although no one rebuked me for the missed deadlines."
The entrepreneur doesn't know whether he will be able to return home, so for now he works in a new place, providing work for his relatives and dreams of the victory of Ukraine.
