Door to the East

Marcin Powierza and Mateusz Laskowski are by no means timid, and so after eight years of operating on the Polish market they have decided to start up a company in Ukraine. Forbis Group, which carries out the comprehensive finishing of retail and service space as well as offices, has so far worked for brands such as Alma, Intimissimi, Furla, Max Mara, Lancerto, Prima Moda, Deni Cler, Echo Investment, GTC and the Baltona chain, for whom it has built stores in the airports at Gdańsk, Poznań and Rzeszów. “Our cooperation with Baltona required very thorough preparation from us. While working at the airport our teams had to fulfil a number of conditions insisted upon by the airport security to be able to work within their zone. Every single piece of equipment, even the smallest item, taken into the airport area had to be catalogued. Thanks to the fact that we have our own assembly teams and our own furniture factory the work proceeded smoothly. This was why we have also built a shop for Baltona in Ukraine,” said Marcin Powierza, the managing director of Forbis Group. The store is located at the airport in Lviv. “It was this first step into the country that made us think about making a proper entrance into this market. So in January this year we registered a company in Ukraine. We will be running the business together with a local partner,” adds Mateusz Laskowski, the operations director and an architect at Forbis Group.

Polish builders
The structure of Forbis Ukraine is currently being set up. The company wants to contribute its know-how to the market as well as its own builders. “A dozen or so people will work in our office in Lviv. We will also soon be moving our assembly teams onto the building sites we will be in charge of. International retail chains operating in Ukraine want their shops to look the same everywhere. That’s why we have to send teams that can guarantee a top quality finish over there,” adds Mateusz Laskowski. Their list of Ukrainian orders already includes a few impressive items. Forbis Ukraine has signed contracts with Multi Development Ukraine for the fit-out of shops in three shopping centres currently under development in Lviv and Kyiv. “In July we should start working on equipping an area of 25,000 sqm in Forum Lviv. The work will take around seven months. We have also been awarded a contract for the comprehensive fit-out of an area of 10,000 sqm in Respublika in Kyiv with the same developer and for the same area in the Blockbuster mall, which is also to be built in the capital,” reveals Marcin Powierza.

First Poland, then Ukraine and next...
In 2013 the company carried out 140 projects – and the number could exceed 200 in 2014. Since the beginning of the year alone Forbis Group has started 24 developments. “Following our entry into Ukraine, we are thinking about developing in Russia or even Belarus. However, such a decision would be taken in two or three years. There is a lot of social stratification in these countries, and despite the generally poor economic situation in Belarus there is a section of society who are interested in the luxury brands we want to work with,” adds Mateusz Laskowski. The company is also planning further growth in Western Europe. So far it has completed projects in Germany, France and Italy, where it is planning to strengthen its presence. “In Italy we plan to open a sales office together with a local partner. There is very strong competition on this market. However, the crisis is working in our favour. We can offer competitive prices and very good contractors. The furniture that we produce is also much cheaper than the Italian equivalent and is of a high quality at the same time,” insists Mateusz Laskowski.