A Ukrainian woman is safe near Elektrėnai: “The most important thing is that there are no sirens here, we sleep peacefully”
“Everything is wonderful, we are satisfied”
“I am Tatyana, I came from Ukraine, in the city of Chernihiv. It was on March 25. We lived in Abromiškii children’s sanatorium, then in May we moved here to Pastrėvi.
I’m here with my son, he’s in the ninth grade, he’s studying at a distance learning school in Ukraine. He is already in older classes, so it would be difficult for him to learn Lithuanian,” says Tatjana, who briefly retired from working in the workshop of Evaldos Bliujaus’ small community.
All three women have been working for some time, they say they are satisfied with everything, maybe just cold.
She lives in her neighboring school in Pastrėvis – since this year there are no more students, so now, as Tatiana laughs, her son has both a home and a school classroom there.
“We were received very well. Lithuania, Lithuanians. Everything is wonderful, we are satisfied. Thanks to Pastrėvis elder Arūnas. The relationship with us here is excellent”, – Tatiana praises without writing.
But it’s more comfortable to live in an apartment, I ask the woman. And she just shrugs her shoulders: “After what happened to us in Ukraine, being picky would somehow be quite – I want there, I want somewhere else. No, thanks for the current conditions, for accepting us. At least you can’t hear, you can’t see all that bombing, air raid sirens, etc.”
After what happened in Ukraine, they would be picky somehow… No, thanks for the current conditions, for accepting us. At least you can’t hear or see the sirens of bombing or air raids.
Since 2017, Tatjana has traveled around European countries – Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary – to earn money.
“Our price has been bombarded since February 24. At first we went to Vinnytsia, there is such a city in Ukraine. And I have a friend in Lithuania, he encouraged me to drive here completely and completely. People here are different, I’ve been to those countries, I can compare,” Tatiana said.
“We are 100 percent we will win and go home”
She claims that the most important thing for both women and other women who came from Ukraine was work. Having it, none of them complains of difficulties, it is convenient to come here. However, thoughts still revolve around the house in Ukraine, even though they are already smiling – leaving Pastrėvis is probably a future regret.
“At the moment, the most important thing for us is to have a roof over our heads and a job. The war will end, we are 100 percent. we will win and go to our homeland. No matter what you do, it’s home, – Aliona says to Tatiana. – We had to leave, our city Dobropilia was evacuated and we had to come here.
And Lithuania because when we arrived in Lviv at the station, a volunteer guy told us that there are several options – Denmark, Germany, Lithuania. They say they don’t like our countrymen very much in Denmark, we don’t know the language in Germany, so it will be difficult with the children. And in Lithuania, many people still know Russian and people respect us. Thank you, you accepted, sheltered. The most important thing is that there are no sirens, we sleep peacefully.”
At the moment, the most important thing for us is to have a roof over our heads and a job. The war will end, we are 100 percent. we will win and go to our homeland.
Aliona’s family has many children. Three of her children study remotely at a Ukrainian school, the fourth Valerija already has children herself, they attend kindergarten.
“Of course, it’s hard… it’s hard… And we’re going through a lot because of dad, he stayed in Ukraine. But we hope everything will be fine, we will return,” Aliona says with a slightly trembling voice.
When asked when they were able to sleep peacefully, the women, albeit not very cheerfully, laugh: “From the first days, really from the first.” After all, you are not afraid of sirens or air danger, to lie down to sleep.”
“And everything is so easy. As if we had come to the village about 30 km from our house. For some reason we feel at home. I don’t even know. You are kind of like us. And this is not some big city with intense traffic. People speak to us in Russian. It seems as if we are at home”, says Aliona.
I remember with horror
Tatiana second: “The language barrier would be difficult to overcome. And here everything is simple, everyone helps, talks, even after going to Vilnius everything is easy to find.”
Valerija’s two children attend kindergarten, as the young woman says, they are fine here: “The children there do not speak or understand Russian, but somehow they find a common language.” Not once did he say he wouldn’t go or didn’t want to. They are already saying something to me in Lithuanian.”
“The war will end, we will go home immediately. On that day, – Aliona assures, it would not be if the men were together, maybe then they would consider other options, maybe they are looking for permanent housing, and now – the husbands are there, the parents, the house is also there. – It’s like a split personality. You are half here, half there. It is very hard. You have to convince yourself that everything will be fine both here and there. But we are strong, we must persevere. The God of trials, you have to overcome them.”
She remembers with horror the dangers of the weather, when she had to get up at night and run to the basements with her children to hide: “We slept with our clothes on, on the floor. Its scary”.
Like a split personality. You are half here, half there. It is very hard. You have to convince yourself that everything will be fine both here and there.
“When there is no water, no gas, nothing, how to live?” In our city, when the bombing started from the beginning to the middle of the fight, there was nothing left. People cooked outside. Horror.
Almost 300 thousand people lived in our city. population, about 160-180 thousand remained. It’s coming back little by little. It was more or less calm now. But the last few weeks again… Explosions in Kyiv, and we are only 140 km away from it. If we knew for sure that it was all over…”, Tatiana continues.
The products are specific and not for Lithuania
Evaldas Bliujus, who employed these women in his company, smiles when he hears that it’s cold for them here, the climate is a bit different for others. And at the same time, he is wondering how to install a heater, because until now his workshop has not been heated.
This is where kindling sticks for kindling and grates for beds under mattresses are made. Surprised that the fields of activity are already very different, E. Bliujus agrees. But the grills are made on demand and the sticks go to one retail chain in Great Britain.
“During the season, the demand for such production is high in that network. Now, the season is very difficult for us this year, because in previous seasons they were able to purchase this production from Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, so we produced the small part, as far as we were physically able. it is a very big burden for us, since they no longer have anywhere to buy from, only Lithuania is left,” E. Bliujus says now.
He says he has a huge order for this season – over 30 tugs, one weighing about 25 tons, which is about 10,000. packaging.
Now it’s a very difficult season for us, in previous seasons they received this production from Ukraine, Belarus, Russia. Now only Lithuania remains
“We are not able to fulfill the entire order this time, we are sharing that order with other Lithuanian manufacturers, we will test that market together. This is influenced by the very high cost of our raw materials for fuel and, you know, electricity. We buy all waste wood from all Lithuanian furniture manufacturers and process it,” explains the owner of the company.
He says that it is a cheap product and there is really no way to buy expensive wood and cut it into sticks for fuel: “Now there is a deficit of that wood, because all types of fuel are more expensive and there is a shortage of wood.”
We don’t even try to offer such production to the Lithuanian market, says E. Bliujus, because it is often unpopular.
Expensive wood and increased energy prices forced a review of the contract with the buyer, however, as E. Bliujus assures, it was not possible to raise the prices of the products as much as electricity and raw materials became more expensive, but it is expected to compensate for the differences by producing larger quantities.
No alarm signals yet
The company sends the bed rails to Germany, from where they travel all over Europe. So far, there are no alarming signals of a decrease in orders in this area either. In the summer, it is produced, as they say, “to the warehouse”, and after the holidays, in the fall, the trade runs away. About 4.5-5 thousand are exported per month. units.
The company has a total of seven employees. “It’s hard to guess. And you have to work a lot yourself”, E. Bliujus does not hide.
Our geographical position is such that there are a lot of jobs in the municipality of Elektrėnai. Two huge giants are located next to us, and they collect all the employees.
He is open – during this strong number it almost doubled, three Ukrainian women also helped a lot, and plans to accept at least a few more. But it is not very easy to find those employees.
“Our geographical position is such that there are a lot of jobs in the municipality of Elektrėnai. Two huge giants – “Kietaviškių gausa” and “Boen Lietuva” – are located near us, so they attract and gather all employees. For us, such small ones are in big competition with them”, said E. Bliujus.
True, this small community cannot boast of being lured by big rewards either. The manager does not hide that this is just the minimum wage. But it is said that there is nothing to increase, because the manufactured goods are not expensive, and energy resources “eat up” parts of the earnings.