After the cycling injury, he did not go into his own business: he was the first in Lithuania to do so.

From sport to business

When we arrived at the Staki oak flooring company located in the village of Užusaliai, Jonava district, the owner Kęstutis and his son Justas greet us. The men immediately lead and offer to sit down, and then promise to show the production facilities as well.

“My business started with cycling,” says Kęstutis immediately. It tells the story of a former professional road cyclist.

At the time, as he names it, he won the Lithuanian championship about 12 times, was a winner in the Soviet Union, and explains that he was better known in the Netherlands and Belgium than in Lithuania.

Although the sport was a great success for the man, his career ended when he was only 29 years old, when the man was riding a bicycle in front of the World Cup, a car collided with his back.

“I had a crushed vertebra, there was no healthy place. And after that, I couldn’t sit on the bike for 7 years.

I started this business through cycling, although it has no relationship, “he says, assuring him that at the end of his career he had to find another source of sustenance.

“I was looking for contacts to work with, after all, these were not the current times, there were not so many opportunities. But through his Dutch sponsor, who introduced me to one of the most famous cyclists in the world in Belgium, as I remember now, we sat down, he took a sheet and writes there, wrote the pictures he needed, “he says of the job search after the injury. be interested in the lumber business, even though it had nothing to do with it before.

The Belgian cyclist lost the Kęstutis idea due to wood processing. At that time, the Belgian and another Lithuanian had already founded UAB Plankmara, and Kęstutis joined them as a shareholder.

“Then we had a sawmill, our business was to cut logs from the forest,” says the businessman from the beginning.

The men did the same until 1997, when they finally decided to take the floor.

“We were the first in Lithuania to start producing floorboards.

I remember that at that time its price to buyers was higher than it is now.

So the price of wood was 2-3 times less, the cost of production was less, the competition was x times less, “he recalls.

Later, according to him, everything turned out in such a way that when Kęstutis finally separated, he remained the sole shareholder of the company and had already grown the flooring business independently.

“It was difficult, I had no one to consult. I had to search a lot in the West, but since I had a good name for sports, all doors were open to me,” says the manager.

True, today UAB Plankmara is better known as Staki oak flooring, but even this name is associated with cycling. According to Kęstutis, the Staki inscription accompanied him on the supporting posters during the competition.

The biggest loss is 100,000. EUR

Today, the businessman says that he has developed the oak flooring business in such a way that his products, around 90%, are exported to 16 foreign countries, which, as he laughs, is also shown in the export address flags. arranged on the shelf in the office.

“We have also sent the word to New Zealand,” says Kęstutis, saying that the partners already know their product and that customers, if necessary, find the company themselves.

Oak floors, as he explains, are made from Lithuanian or Ukrainian oak, but currently the company is strategically expecting lower prices for wood raw materials, so it doesn’t buy them.

“We are currently in a monitoring position because we were working and working with wood from old warehouses when the pandemic started.

Now it is coming to an end, but we are not buying it, we are waiting for the prices of raw materials to fall. In the heyday of the economy, prices are up a lot, so who to buy from if we have stocks we can work with. We are waiting for autumn and winter. I think they will be smaller then. In any case, the main oak markets for us are Lithuania and Ukraine, “he says openly, saying that he is more committed to production and sells mainly through distributors abroad, who sell products in specialized stores.

Kęstutis explains that oak is not a tree that would be very easy to work with. According to him, the slightest mistake can have enormous consequences. He says the biggest loss was 100,000. Eur, because later during the production of blanks the oak caught the mold.

“It just caught my eye then.” Several diseases have been popping up in the oak for some time, I think it’s due to weather conditions and pollution, “he says.

When asked if he pays attention to the guests when he turns to the guests, the man laughs and says he closes his eyes, though not very carefully.

Kęstutis’ son, Justas, is sitting next to us all the time, while not hiding, who has not joined his father’s business in a long time, but is now the company’s manager.

“I like it here. I like to communicate with people, I like to negotiate, I like to go to each other, compare, compete. Maybe that competition is progressing.

They want to expand the business, move forward like a parent, “he says.

The floor saves

Today, the company Kęstutis has 32 employees. Most of them come to work from Kaunas, as well as Jonava and its surroundings.

“We don’t have a lot of employee turnover, so it’s difficult to say if it’s difficult or easy to find employees here,” says the businessman.

After getting up from the chairs, we walked for a short time after the production and storage facilities. They – 8 thousand. kv. meters The man also shows the special press he is working with, then explains the details of the oak flooring production.

When asked if people tend to save when they buy an apartment, he says that the apartment in a new house is usually bought as one of the last details, so, as a general rule, they often run out of money.

“But it is the floor that gives all the sensation, that common aura,” he says. Kv. meter. The prices of the oak flooring in the company range between 15 and 65 euros.

“For 15 euros we sell stand boards or leftovers,” explains Kęstutis.