"If you wait, you can pack up!"

The company car rolls evenly along the Polish motorway. 700 kilometres have been behind it since leaving Vilnius, and 200 are still to the Polish-Ukrainian border. At the wheel sits Jaunius Šileikis (55), a Lithuanian who is like his driving style: determined, but level-headed, forward-looking, calm. 

 

Šileikis was born in Salakas, a village in northeastern Lithuania, right on Lake Luodis. As a child, he fished there with his father and brother, and today he spends fishing holidays with friends in Finland. His second passion, almost obligatory for a Lithuanian, is basketball. He played himself, at school, at university, with colleagues. "But as you get older, basketball becomes too dangerous for your legs and fingers. I switched to beach volleyball, now I play padel tennis. I need sport – team sport." 

 

After graduating from school, Šileikis began studying in Vilnius in 1988, but was drafted into the Red Army after only a few months. His military service ended prematurely when Lithuania declared its independence in March 1990 and the Soviet Union dismissed Lithuanian soldiers. Šileikis continued his studies and graduated in 1994. "I am a civil engineer for industrial and residential construction, but I have not worked a single day as a civil engineer. All large factories in Lithuania were controlled from Moscow and had to stop production after separation from the Soviet Union. But I wanted to work, no matter what, wanted to earn money. An acquaintance had a friend who knew the owner of a new window company. It was a modern plant with German machines, the first in Lithuania to produce plastic windows and the first to process GEALAN profiles. That's where I ended up and built windows as a normal production employee. I wouldn't have had to study for that." After a year, Šileikis took over as production manager. When his employer plans to extrude plastic profiles in Lithuania together with GEALAN, he takes the decisive step in his career: "They were looking for a managing director who speaks German. I had German at school. I was young, I was motivated. I thought: why not?" In 1997, Jaunius Šileikis was registered as the managing director of the newly founded company GEALAN Baltic. He spent six months with Lithuanian colleagues at GEALAN in Germany, learned a lot about extrusion and worked at the extruder himself. GEALAN Baltic starts with three used extrusion lines and tools from Germany, grows and soon moves from a small old hall in the centre of Vilnius to a large new building in an industrial area outside the city. Today, 24 extruders with more than 350 tools are running there. 

 

The vernissage market on Vicheva Square in Lviv: Jaunius Šileikis (right) and Sergii Kozhevnikov with Vyshyvanka; the Vyshyvanka (German: embroidery) is a traditional East Slavic embroidery design, which, according to early medieval belief, is supposed to ward off evil spirits. Today, traditional blouses with vyshyvanka are Ukrainian cultural assets and textile patriotism. 

 

The Lychakivsky Cemetery in Lviv is a tourist attraction and memorial. North of the cemetery wall, a new burial ground has been created for the war victims of the past months: wooden crosses, lots of fresh flowers, portrait photos, football fan scarves and a sea of flags in blue-yellow and red-black. 

 

After a successful quarter of a century in the window world, Jaunius Šileikis thinks the time is ripe for a change. He gets a job offer and becomes a managing director in another industry. But his time out from GEALAN is short-lived: "I missed the people at GEALAN. I noticed that the Baltic team, which I built myself, was like a second family to me. I missed the exchange with colleagues in Germany and Europe, the GEALAN spirit." He didn't hesitate for long, resigned and called GEALAN headquarters. "I asked if there was a position for me, after all these years, with my experience." There is: In 2021, Šileikis will become Business Development Manager. 

 

Jaunius Šileikis has identified Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine as the former Soviet republics with the best prospects for GEALAN. "I analyse the market volume and competition, then I develop a strategy for our activities. I am looking for employees and partners. The right people on the ground are even more important than a suitable strategy – I can't do anything without them, they embody GEALAN." 

 

In Azerbaijan, GEALAN supplies the warehouse of a wholesaler who distributes plastic profiles to many small processors. In Uzbekistan, GEALAN cooperates with a window manufacturer who equips large buildings, building complexes or entire city districts. GEALAN sets up its own structures in Ukraine and finds two employees: Sergii Kozhevnikov for sales and application engineer Yurii Chervonyi. They acquire and support customers, the profile deliveries come from Poland or Lithuania. "Window construction is well developed in Ukraine and we still have a lot to do here. I want to set up a warehouse, I can imagine a Ukrainian subsidiary, and I don't even rule out a production site," says Šileikis. "But of course all this takes time and, above all, peace must first return to the country." 

 

Two or three times a year, Šileikis flies to Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. It is appreciated there when European system providers send representatives who can answer questions about products directly and have technical data ready. "I support our partners in winning new customers or tenders. GEALAN participates in events for architects, investors and the entire construction sector." On his mental map of the world, Šileikis has marked other countries in which it could be worthwhile to get involved – Kazakhstan, for example. But he first wants to make GEALAN more independent in Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, "with local employees and a warehouse in each country. We have good partners, but they are not part of the GEALAN structure. If they decide to sell bread or shoes tomorrow, we'll start from scratch again." Šileikis is in Ukraine every month – until the war breaks out in February 2022. From then on, he coordinates projects from Vilnius and talks to Kozhevnikov and Chervonyi on a daily basis. They meet in person no more than once a quarter. 

 

Jaunius Šileikis has parked his car in a parking lot and pulls his trolley on foot towards the border. Leaving Poland is done quickly: a cursory glance at our EU passports, no questions. After a kilometer and a half of walking, Ukrainian officials x-ray our luggage. Šileikis' backpack raises questions. He opens it: samples of various PVC profile systems – not commonplace, but not illegal either. With an entry stamp in our passports, we walk a few minutes to Sergii Kozhevnikov's car, with whom we have an appointment near the border. He attaches great importance to the fact that we download an app on our smartphones that warns us in the event of an air alarm. And he opens a messenger group through which he can give us instructions in an emergency. 

 

80 kilometers of country road to Lviv: Kozhevnikov curves around the potholes with practice, as if he knows every single one of them. Fully occupied marshrutkas rumble towards us, the driver of a truck-mounted crane stares helplessly at the road on which his torn-off massive crane hook lies. Wide-open trailers bend under the weight of hundreds of plump watermelons. The summer sun makes golden church roofs shine and flags flutter everywhere – not only blue and yellow: Kozhevnikov and Šileikis talk in Russian and I pick up "krasno-chernye flagi". I ask and Kozhevnikov explains to me in English that red and black were the colors of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, which existed from 1942 to 1954. Now red and black are booming again. 

 

The war turns Sergii Kozhevnikov's life upside down – professionally and privately. In March 2022, as the bombings in his hometown of Kyiv became more frequent and violent, he traveled with his family to France, where his wife Olena and three sons still live today. He himself will return to Kyiv in August 2022 to work in Ukraine - that was clear from the beginning. Once or twice a year, the family comes to visit, "so that the children can see their father from time to time," says the 44-year-old. "It's really difficult, but I know what we're doing this for. My children live and learn in safety." 

 

Sergii Kozhevnikov studied business law from 1997 to 2002 and, like Jaunius Šileikis, built windows after completing his studies. "I took my first steps in production in my wife's family's company, then I was in sales and finally project manager." In 2006, Olena and Sergii Kozhevnikov founded the trade magazine Window Technologies, which is published quarterly in Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Belarus. "As editor-in-chief, I have acquired a lot of knowledge about windows and window technology and have been able to make good connections throughout the industry." In 2018 and 2019, Kozhevnikov will host the Windo Lviv trade fair – the COVID pandemic prevents further exhibitions. 

 

With the war comes the end of Window Technologies in its established form as a print magazine in spring 2022. "Printing has become complicated and expensive, so we focused on newsletters and social media. GEALAN had placed ads in Window Technologies, so I knew Jaunius. He told me that GEALAN was looking for someone who could promote the brand in Ukraine." In July 2022, Kozhevnikov left his own company and joined GEALAN. "I know almost all European profile manufacturers, machine and accessory suppliers. I am enthusiastic about GEALAN's technologies, especially GEALAN-acrylcolor®. The first GEALAN acrylcolor® window was recently produced in Ukraine – an important step." Sergii Kozhevnikov succeeds in transferring his enthusiasm to potential new customers. It is not difficult to convince them that GEALAN products are more innovative than Ukrainian profiles, which are offered at lower prices. "Switching from the cheapest profile to a GEALAN system is not an easy decision. But with GEALAN you can build windows that can be sold at a much better price." 

 

GEALAN has four customers in Ukraine: in Ternopil, Medenychi, Chernivtsi and Odessa. A rocket has hit near a production facility, but all the factories are intact. Kozhevnikov believes that these existing customers will double or even triple their current sales. After the collapse of the markets in the south and east of Ukraine, many window manufacturers have turned to the west and increased their export quota. Three GEALAN customers are among the top 5 Ukrainian window exporters. The locomotive of the national window market is western Ukraine: Many people and companies are moving to the relatively safe Lviv region, for example, where houses, apartments, offices, warehouses and production rooms are being sought. "And there is always demand in the capital. In Kiev, damaged windows are being replaced. Those who wait for the day when the war is over can pack up. Our customers are adapting and developing new markets now." 

 

We want to hear first-hand about the challenges the war poses for window manufacturers in Ukraine and drive to Ternopil, a two-hour drive east of Lviv. At the end of a village, the military has set up a checkpoint – anti-tank barriers, camouflage, submachine guns. Sergii Kozhevnikov hands a soldier some documents: they identify him as a student. In 2023, he has started a course of study, which he wants to complete with the English doctoral degree Ph.D. The topic of his dissertation: Evaluation of technological methods of recycling PVC profiles in order to minimize the impact on the environment. The certificate of enrolment saves him from military service – for the time being. We continue our journey and I ask what would have happened without the documents: "I would have had to get out, would have been taken to a collection point and in a few days I might have been at the front in Donetsk." 

 

Viknar'Off CEO Sergii Zakharchyshyn (right) and GEALAN application engineer Yurii Chervonyi on a new profile processing system; the line has capacity to produce 300 windows per shift and can process GEALAN-acrylcolor®profiles. 

 

The Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital in Kyiv after being partially destroyed by a cruise missile on July 8, 2024; within two weeks, window manufacturer Viknar'Off and GEALAN have replaced the windows in an important part of the complex. 

 

Two of 21 certificates hanging in the foyer of the Viknar'Off headquarters in Ternopil; the window manufacturer is a generous and proud supporter of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. 

 

Viknar'Off, founded 18 years ago as a small workshop without great growth ambitions, is a giant with an annual production of 500,000 windows, before the start of the war it was 800,000, the second largest window manufacturer in Ukraine and number 1 in exports. Sergii Zakharchyshyn (40) has been running Viknar'Off (German: "window man") for seven years, before that he was a successful banker. "It's a story for half a day," he answers when asked what has changed since the beginning of the war. Instead of 1,200 people, Viknar'Off employs only 800. Right now, 200 are at the front, nine have died in the war, including the national sales manager. "Everything has changed. Our young people can be drafted into the army at any time." 

 

As a company active in exports and reconstruction, Viknar'Off can have part of its workforce exempted from military service or deferred. However, this involves a great deal of bureaucracy. Documents must be submitted for each individual person and applications must be renewed regularly. The procedure is based on a strict system of criteria and points. "We have collected enough points to have 300 people deferred," says Zakharchyshyn. "Now we are trying to fill vacancies with women and reactivate pensioners." Since the stricter Mobilization Act came into force in spring 2024, fitters and field staff have been afraid of getting caught in a traffic check and being drafted directly. In addition to personnel concerns, the unstable power supply is causing problems for window manufacturers. Viknar'Off has purchased two generators and installed solar panels, allowing it to generate 1.6 megawatts of electricity itself. Sergii Zakharchyshyn admits: "I would never have believed that the war could last two or three years. We stayed here, we survived, and we know it's even worse elsewhere. When I talk to those who are fighting, I feel a strong patriotic feeling – hard to describe." 

 

Viknar'Off has been processing GEALAN profiles since 2019. "I have switched our sales to a top-down model: first we offer the S-Class, then the C- or A-Class. So we needed something exclusive. GEALAN and Viknar'Off – that's a first-class tandem. We offer GEALAN first, then other systems." This tandem has provided 0.7 million Ukrainian hryvnia (approx. 15,000 euros) for the reconstruction of the Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital in Kyiv. Together, Viknar'Off and GEALAN produced 51 large-format windows, delivered them to Kiev and installed them in the clinic's laboratory building. 

 

In a village on our way back to the Ukrainian-Polish border: A handful of festively dressed people are standing at the side of the road. A few hundred meters further on, at the head of a long convoy of vehicles that pushes forward at walking pace, we recognize a van – behind its windshield is a piece of paper with the inscription "200". The code marks repatriations of killed soldiers. 

 

"These are special times. Everyone is fighting, every day," says Sergii Kozhevnikov as he drops us off near the border crossing. "The missile attacks are dangerous and it's difficult to focus on something like work. But Ukraine is a big country with a huge market that is currently being slowed down. The future will offer great opportunities." 

 

The company car rolls evenly along the Polish motorway. Still 850 kilometers to Vilnius. We did not perceive any situation in Ukraine as concretely dangerous. And yet we find that we have been breathing more freely since we are back in the EU. We weren't afraid, but we had a permanent oppressive feeling. 

 

"We have decided that Ukraine is a country with potential for GEALAN," says Jaunius Šileikis. "And we have come at the right time. It's a good thing we didn't wait until the war was over. I am optimistic and there is much more optimism in Ukraine than in all of us." 

 

67 hours after our departure, Lviv and fourteen other Ukrainian regions set off an air raid alarm. Russia is carrying out one of the largest air strikes since the beginning of the war, using 200 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.