Rubryka stopped by the Ecosoft company during the visit of the European Economic and Social Committee delegation and found out how everything worked.
Ecosoft has been on the market for over 30 years. The enterprise started as a family company, and in 2018, became part of the multinational BWT Group. The company manufactures a broad assortment of products from the usual pitcher filters to cleaning systems the size of a large house.
What is the problem?
On February 24, 2022, everything changed for this Irpin enterprise – like all of Ukraine. At five in the morning, at the news of the imminent Russian invasion, the director of the operations department, Yurii Chechailyuk, called his colleagues at the factory and told them to stop working and save their families. Soon, the territory was blocked under massive shelling by the Russian army.
By the end of March, the warehouse and factory had been completely destroyed.
Yurii Chechailyuk (far left) starts a tour of the enterprise for Oliver Röpke, president of the European Economic and Social Committee (standing right).
What is the solution?
Timely evacuation and relocation
Many team members were evacuated to Ternopil, and eventually production was moved there as well.
It helped a lot that before the war, the company had ordered certain equipment and materials that were still on the road at the time of the invasion, so they were rerouted to Ternopil.
Immediately after the liberation of Irpin from the Russians in April 2022, Chechailyuk returned to the enterprise and saw that only one building had survived.
"20 women were already waiting to resume work"
At the same time, the operations department director was surprised to learn that about 20 employees were already waiting for the resumption of work and were ready to start.
Workers are packing ready cartridges for filters.
Some of the equipment survived, and could be cleaned and restored. With that came the impetus to restart production.
"Step by step, we tried to organize some processes here and invited our employees to return," Chechailyuk said.
Oliver Röpke is second from left, and Yurii Chechailyuk is third.
Chechailyuk recalls with delight how he called three female colleagues who evacuated to Portugal, and within three days, they returned home to continue working.
"The key to our success was that all skilled workers immediately returned to the company after we resumed operations," shared the director of operations.
In June 2022, Ecosoft moved production from Ternopil back to Irpin, and already in April 2023, the Ternopil branch of the business was finally closed.
Before the war, 420 people worked at the enterprise; now, it is half as many, but this number is enough because sales are 50% of the pre-war volume.
Foreign partners patiently waited for their orders
In the living room of the company, there is a fragment of a Russian projectile — one of those that was used to attack Ecosoft in March 2022.
Due to the Russian shelling, only the metal frame of the production building remained, but the company decided to rebuild it even better than before. Currently, the work is ongoing. Ecosoft plans to reach pre-war production levels next year if there are no significant changes.
Currently, Ecosoft manufactures its products in a rented space.
"The only large warehouse building nearby survived, so we rented it and placed our production there. We started with a manual process, but after purchasing certain equipment, we restarted almost all processes step by step," Chechailyuk clarified.
One of the premises of the rented Ecosoft production building.
The fact that customers did not cancel their orders – but patiently waited for them – greatly supported the company. Now, exports allow the company to stay afloat and continue to recover.
This product will go to Portugal.
Chechailyuk led a delegation of the European Economic and Social Committee through the production facility, where he showed how everything works and explained how the company helps military personnel and residents of villages and towns on the front line who suffer from a lack of quality water.
How does it work?
Systems that turn available water into clean water
Packaging of containers for cartridges.
"Even during the occupation of Irpin, we installed vending machines and water filling points for residents. Because at that time, the water supply was not working, and in this way, we helped the people of Irpin to get water somewhere," Chechailyuk recalled.
Packaging company of Ecosoft products.
Currently, solutions are being developed here for the needs of the Ukrainian military and war-affected settlements. The enterprise manufactures many local systems, allowing any available water to be turned into clean water.
"We supply them all over Ukraine. They can be installed anywhere, even connected to a generator or some local network, to provide people with clean drinking water," the entrepreneur told Rubryka.
Some systems allow you to take water from the river. Ecosoft developed them for the military, and now they are used by civilians and water utilities.
Chechailyuk explains: "At the exit, you receive not drinking water, but water that can be used to cook food. This is also important because bottled drinking water can be delivered, and food can be prepared from this surface water."
Ecosoft also develops systems for the restoration of water canals. For example, one is currently being prepared for the Kurakhove water canal, Ukraine' Donetsk region. They are also working on systems for cleaning mine waters.
"We have an engineering group that develops technologies for affordable water. Then, we already manufacture it and offer ready-made solutions specifically for certain situations that arise in current realities," Chechailyuk emphasized.
Modular water purification system. The company has already delivered several dozen such products to the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions.
In particular, in the mobile system, all water purification and related equipment are mounted in an insulated module, and consumers receive it already preconfigured.
"Roughly speaking, you can take water from the river and cook food for the battalion. This is a complex with a generator and everything necessary: take the water, clean it, and serve it in the kitchen," Chechailyuk says, describing the process.
The finished cartridge for a household filter at the exit from the conveyor.
Ecosoft helps its mobilized colleagues with special equipment. Also, the company's CEO, Andrii Mitchenko, and his family created the Water Saves Life Ukraine charitable fund to support victims of military actions on Ukraine's territory. During the first three months of the war, the foundation helped 15 families of Ecosoft workers who lost their homes completely and helped 36 other families rebuild their homes.
The widest assortment for household consumers
Ecosoft offers an extensive range of products to ordinary consumers. After all, most water in Ukraine is not suitable for drinking without treatment. For consumption, it must be additionally purified.
Packaging and assembly of finished cartridges.
As Chechailyuk assured, Ecosoft is one of the few companies, not only at the Ukrainian level but also at the European level, that offers such a wide range of solutions for water purification.
An employee installs the RObust system, which is used in restaurants and coffee shops.
Ecosoft donated its pitcher filters to hospitals in various cities, IDPs, and other people and institutions in need.
"A great example of recovery"
The European Economic and Social Committee President, Oliver Röpke, visited Ecosoft at the end of a two-day visit to Ukraine. Röpke emphasized the significance of the event. During the visit, he had meetings with Ukrainian government officials, parliamentarians, representatives of trade unions, and activists of non-governmental organizations. Also, he visited Bucha, where he saw evidence of Russian war crimes with his own eyes.
"Our final visit was here, to an enterprise engaged in water purification. This is a positive result, which shows that the reconstruction and recovery must begin now, and it is already happening now," Röpke continued: "We must not wait for this terrible war to end. We see that a large part of Ukraine is trying to live in normal conditions. People work, production continues, companies invest, and even export to other markets occurs. I think this is a great example of recovery."
The delegation of the European Economic and Social Committee at Ecosoft production.
Newsletter
Digest of the most interesting news: just about the main thing
