Working 30 km from the russian border: how to protect the team without halting operations

The Director General of SFE “Forests of Ukraine” Yurii Bolokhovets visited Branch “Pivnichnyi Forest Office.” Together with the team, he discussed the key issue for this border region: the safety of all employees.

Currently, a significant portion of the branch’s staff works in the city of Sumy—just 30 km from the border.

Shelling, sabotage raids by enemy reconnaissance groups, damaged administrative buildings, and risky trips into the forest are daily realities for the forestry units in the Sumy Region. This forces them to take a different approach to organizing their work.

The key question is how to keep people while maintaining production processes.

Each employee decides for themselves whether to stay or relocate. Our task is to provide them with choice and support.

Among the possible solutions:

 

– transfer to a branch unit in a safer part of the Sumy Region;

– reassignment to units in the Chernihiv Region;

– transfer to other branches of SFE “Forests of Ukraine” in other regions.

Such examples already exist: employees from the Sumy Region are relocating with their families to Slobozhanshchyna or to the central part of Ukraine and continuing their work. This allows them to remain in their profession while safeguarding their loved ones.

The Director General emphasized the need to develop a remote‐working regime for the branch’s staff. The enemy has been halted and pushed back, but the risk of intensified shelling of Sumy remains.

Most employees of SFE “Forests of Ukraine” in the Sumy Region remain at their posts. Those who continue working in the combat zone are eligible for a 20 % bonus.

Not everyone can or wants to leave — and that’s okay. But we must have a plan in case of any developments.