We have placed emphasis primarily on employee care, then supply chain, liquidity, and communication/coordination with business partners, customers and suppliers until the completion of construction work.
“We are facing a very challenging and uncertain situation, hence, we have implemented all measures in line with the latest decisions of the Government of the Republic of Serbia. Safety and health of our employees and partners in all places where we operate are of utmost importance,” said Ognjen Kisin, CEO of Konstruktor Grupa.
How did you organize business activities?
Just like everyone else, Konstruktor Grupa faces a very challenging and uncertain situation caused by the COVID-19 virus contagion. With this mind, we have implemented all measures in line with the latest decisions of the Government of the Republic of Serbia. Safety and health of our employees and partners in all places where we operate are of utmost importance.
The past days and weeks have brought a lot of changes, so we activated our business continuity plan and established crisis management functions.
We have placed emphasis primarily on employee care, then supply chain, liquidity, and communication/coordination with business partners, customers and suppliers until the completion of construction work.
In the first week since the introduction of the state of emergency, that is from Monday, March 16th, we have put in place emergency measures to protect employee health:
– Those employees who, due to the nature of their jobs could work from home, started doing so, while older employees and those with health problems were relieved of their work duties even before the Serbian government introduced a similar measure.
– In all workplaces, we implemented special procedures relating to employee behaviour, like keeping at least 2-metre-distance between employees and measuring body temperature twice a day.
– Groups adhering to strict rules of behaviour were formed, namely, each group has their own toilet, faucet, place of dining and changing room.
– Construction sites, the office building and the production facility are supplied with sufficient amount of disinfectants, additionally purchased prefabricated toilets and face masks, which, due to the shortage in the market, we made ourselves.
– We engaged additional passenger cars due to the stoppage of public transportation.
– We have communicated with our suppliers, renewed our building material inventory and expedited transport both in the country and abroad, intending to prevent production stoppage.
Our entire company team takes its responsibilities seriously. We will do everything possible to safely preserve all business functions – administration, design, production and construction, as much as the hierarchy of priorities allows. I would also like to use this opportunity to say special thank you to all medical professionals. While appreciating their sacrifice in this fight against the coronavirus, the team of Konstruktor Grupa would like to extend to them their support. The donation we made to the State Health Insurance Fund (RFZO) is a small contribution to their great commitment during these difficult times. This situation will certainly affect all of us and it is important not to forget what our priorities are, as well as to be aware of our abilities we have demonstrated by having successful business operations for years, which we will apply again in these conditions and especially once all of this is over.
- How do you spend your private time during the pandemic?
At home, of course. But I have to admit that a good deal of my private time is also devoted to working online. The rest of my time, like before, is devoted to my family and all other wonderful aspects of it. It seems to me that these moments have brought us closer together and we appreciate more everything we have.
- What will you do first after the state of emergency is abolished?
That’s still hard to say since we don’t know when that’s going to happen. But the list, related to work and private life, is pretty long. Hopefully, the state of emergency will be lifted before the outdoor temperature hits 40 degrees and the things I am going to do, once the state of emergency is over, are going to be related to spending time in nature that we all need this spring.