Working with Chinese companies, they were fortunate enough to learn about the negative consequences of the coronavirus right at the start of the epidemic in China. They shared experiences with their Chinese partners and, to a large extent, prepared well for the problems to come.
They made their first purchases of disinfectants a full month before the pandemic was declared, issued guidance on how employees should behave, and organised shift work and work from home, all with the aim of minimising contact and social interaction.
“We secured a considerable quantity of raw materials in stock, which helped us complete contracted work on time. We had a great many previously contracted export jobs, and we faced a transport problem. However, thanks to our partners in the transport business, and even in the very difficult conditions of cross-border communication, in the first three months of this year we exported over 300 truckloads of our products, which allowed us to deliver every planned project,” the company told the business portal Akta.ba, explaining that in the first four months of this year they increased sales volume by 35 percent compared with last year — a notable result, given that the materials they work with are of a construction and investment character.
At the start of the year the company had planned an investment of two million KM in equipment and buildings. Despite the current situation they have not abandoned this project, and can safely say that they have completed almost half of the planned work.
Also, from the declaration of the pandemic to this day there have been no redundancies, nor are any being considered.
“A serious company like Alternativa d.o.o. always anticipates possible business risks in its operations,” they say at Alternativa, and so they will not apply for any incentives or assistance from any level of government. They believe assistance should be paid to companies and tradespeople whose business was completely or largely halted. They are aware that the funds available for these purposes are entirely limited and should be directed primarily at preserving jobs.
“Someone once said that a crisis is a new opportunity, and we fully agree with that. We have clear new plans for what to do at this moment; we are focused on the regional market and the EU market. Customers want good, high-quality products, and that is when we become their supplier. The fact is that certain companies will need financial support and will thereby generate consumption, which will ultimately stabilise the whole system,” they explain at Alternativa.
They add that companies from BiH have shown countless times that they can cope with crises, so we estimate that we will emerge from this one much faster than the current figures suggest.
E. Ko.
Taken from akta.ba
