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“Many of us merchants think they are utopian numbers. It is unlikely that we will receive them until the fall. If such a scenario is followed, it will be very bad; I think the business cannot sustain that much. Perhaps the government understands it and makes other decisions as well, ”said Rimantas Perveneckas, CEO of Apranga Group, on the Verslo žinios program of the radijo Žinių.
In her opinion, the government’s cautious decisions should not be surprised: there are many women in the Cabinet of Ministers, and they are cautious. Also, it is a new team that may still lack courage. “But, you know, the third closure is feared. And we, the merchants, say – maybe there will not be a second opening ”, commented the businessman.
Apranga Group owns 170 stores, of which 150 closed in one day on December 16.
“The second quarantine has been going on for a long time. There are challenges, many problems, there are darker colors and brighter colors, but we live and hope to continue living successfully.
We were the company that did not strongly oppose the closing in mid-December. I think they were too late at that time. The biggest concern is that the lockdown and the second quarantine last a long time; there will soon be 90 days, when very important closures have been introduced, ”said R. Perveneckas.
He said the criteria for release from quarantine formed in December, when illnesses were very high, appeared normal. However, now that diseases have dropped eight times, it is completely disproportionate and inappropriate to follow the same scenario, in the opinion of the head of the Apranga Group.
“We are very concerned about the stubbornness of the government. We want to work, we are tired of unemployment, we fear that after that it will be very difficult to recover. It would be nice if there was more tangible support, but there is hardly any support.
We are entering bigger companies and we are being “excluded” from support. As I understand it, this is not true: if you don’t work for a month and a half, big companies can suffer a lot. But when it lasts 90 days, or maybe until the fall, it is difficult to live without help, “said the businessman.
R. Perveneckas did not hide that he expected a lot from the right-wing government, because businessmen were tired of the previous government’s lack of reading with business, the various prohibitions and the imposition of illogical taxes.
“I can’t say the government doesn’t want to listen, but I think bold decisions are needed right now. They need to be made fairly quickly – a day or a week has a very significant impact on business. If businesses were to open in mid-March At Easter, the situation would be quite different.
People are moving, people are tired, I do not think that the opening of stores will change the situation much, we are willing to meet all the requirements. We agreed to test the employees and do it on our own ”, assured the interlocutor.
He estimates that Apranga Group lost 45 million in three months. sales in euros. “You can imagine what that means. That is more than 20 million. income in euros. The figures, really high, commented the businessman. –
In 2019, before the pandemic, online sales accounted for 4 percent. total sales – amounted to 4 million. euros. Last year we sold online for $ 25 million. EUR, which was 12%. of all sales. We currently sell about 30 percent online every month. our old trade. That’s a lot, but there’s no way to make up for it all. 70 percent. the losses are inhumanly great, ”calculated R. Perveneckas.
He asked the government to make great efforts to open businesses as soon as possible and without expecting anything. According to the interviewee, the limit of how much businesses can suffer has now been reached, another two months before May would be too complicated: “I think the business is very close to the border points.”
