The gray sector, the shortage of raw materials and the lack of labor are the main problems with the woodworking and furniture industry in our country is currently facing a collision. The sector generates over 3% of the country's gross domestic product, but if measures are not taken against unfair competition, many of the companies that work in the light are threatened with bankruptcy, the industry warns.
Furniture manufacturers without registered companies, without workshops and machines have been working illegally in our country for years, without paying taxes, says Slavi Slavov, who is the owner of an enterprise for upholstered and cabinet furniture in Ruse, BNT specifies.
"They call him, they cut him, he comes to you with hand tools, he drills, he makes, he costs, there is no receipt, there is no insurance and we have no battle with this gray sector,", Slavi Slavov thinks – owner of a furniture company.
That is why the furniture industry insists on more adequate measures from the state.
„An example should be taken from Germany. You don't have the right to be an electrician or a furniture maker there without being licensed," Slavov believes.
There are nearly 4,000 furniture companies in our country, but the shortage of wood hampers production. For the third year, the branch chamber is struggling with the unsustainable management of forest territories.
„We have reached absurd situations of importing wood from Austria. It's okay to use the forest. It has a social, economic and recreational function. It must be maintained, of course felling is part of this maintenance," explained Daniela Petrova: - executive director of the branch chamber of the woodworking and furniture industry.
There are also fewer and fewer people willing to work in furniture workshops.
„The salary does not fall below two thousand BGN. It's not the pay that's the problem. Everyone prefers to work on something light - influencers, clips, such things", said Nikolay Ivanov – manager of a furniture company.
"There is still the myth that we are in the dirty workshops where they work with a saw. Mass people are not aware of how automated and robotic our industry is," Simona Slavova summarized.
Modern machines in this enterprise have replaced 50 workers in recent years, and productivity has increased by 40 percent. In Nikolay Ivanov's company, however, they will rely on workers from Nepal and Bangladesh to succeed with the orders, which are mainly for Romania and Greece. The first foreign furniture makers will arrive in August.