Dusseldorf Entrepreneur Willi Prettl has been working as an honorary consul for Ukraine for almost three years. Since the beginning of the war, however, he has suddenly become a contact point for refugees. Up to 500 e-mails land in his mailbox every day, and mothers and their children are always at his consulate. He wants to help – and that’s why, together with JobImpulse boss Alexander Wittker, he initiated the development of the Europe-wide job platform “Ukrainians Abroad”.
Prettl is a third-generation partner in the Prettl Group, which, among other things, manufactures wiring systems as an automotive supplier with four locations in the Ukraine, and is also operationally active. He has known Wittker, Managing Director of JobImpulse, for a long time.
The personnel service provider has two pillars: On the one hand, the company employs around 500 engineers and IT specialists in the Tech Impulse division, including in the automotive and aviation industries. The company also employs around 8,000 temporary workers worldwide. Among them were around 1,200 Ukrainians who were working in Poland before the war broke out.
In an interview with the Handelsblatt, the two entrepreneurs explain their motivation to help, the local challenges in detail and why companies could succeed this time in playing a decisive role in the integration of the refugees.
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Read the full interview here:
Mr. Prettl, when the war broke out you initially did not want to comment as Honorary Consul of the Ukraine. What made you change your mind?
Willi Prettl: I want to help the refugees. And that works best if we try to give them a home and get them to work as quickly as possible. But you can only help systematically and in the long term if you get as many entrepreneurs on board as possible and connect the refugees with the entrepreneurs with a job exchange. That’s why I speak to them.
Mr. Wittker, you employ 1,200 Ukrainians in Poland and have a branch in Lviv, Ukraine. When did you realize you wanted to do more than deliver relief supplies?
Alexander Wittker: First of all, it was about direct help. The families of our Ukrainian employees came to Poland immediately after the outbreak of war, but our employees tend to have single apartments there, so they cannot accommodate an entire extended family with pets. At first we simply provided those who arrived with the essentials, looked for more apartments and set up an aid fund. But then it quickly became clear to us that the war was taking longer than expected. It takes more than donations. This is how the idea for “Ukrainians Abroad” came about.
The entrepreneurs have close ties to Ukraine and want to help refugees integrate.
And how did the connection between you come about?
Prettl: We have known each other for a long time, and we also have business relationships through the companies. At the same time, as an honorary consul, I get 300 to 500 e-mails a day from companies, large and small, that would like to hire Ukrainians. I am in contact with the Ministry of the Interior in Stuttgart.
Since then, many companies have asked me how they can help. That’s how we came together. We have to systematically help the many people who are just arriving in Germany and make sure that they don’t end up with dubious providers.
>> Read here: With these ideas, founders support refugee Ukrainians
Do you mean something like the slaughter company Tönnies, which wanted to recruit refugees on the Ukrainian-Polish border, but which has since been discontinued after criticism?
Prettl: I don’t want to say anything about that. The fact is, the refugees need platforms with a reputation and without the intention of making a profit. Behind it should be a company that is also really familiar with international labor law.
Mr. Prettl, could you please briefly explain your role as Honorary Consul?
Prettl: During a visit by a Ukrainian delegation three years ago, I was asked if I would like to volunteer. I gladly agreed. There is one more Honorary Consul of Ukraine. I’m actually responsible for Baden-Württemberg, but I help where I can.
Prettl was one of the first German companies in Ukraine
But how did your close relationship with Ukraine come about?
Prettl: Even before independence in 1991, Prettl was one of the first companies in Ukraine. Back then, in the late 1980s, I was still a little boy and I traveled with my family – still with spare petrol cans in the car because supplies weren’t that far in the Ukraine at the time. Since then I’ve been there again and again. I have close personal and business ties to the country.
And what have you been able to achieve as Honorary Consul so far?
Prettl: Unfortunately, due to Corona, I wasn’t able to achieve everything I had planned to do. It’s all about improving business contacts and getting German companies to settle there. Sometimes I wanted to boost tourism: Odessa is considered the Paris of the East, and the Black Sea coast has a lot to offer. Of course, that’s all over for now. Since the outbreak of war all hell has broken loose. Sometimes there are 15 mothers in my consulate praying, crying or shouting. They need help for themselves and their children. That comes very close.
How can you help at all – through your voluntary work?
Prettl: The greatest support is to give them a home so that they don’t have to wait in the exhibition halls and sports halls, for example. Many want to stay here first, take the children to school first and then work. That’s why I’m so glad that there are such actions by entrepreneurs.
More business talks
Mr. Wittker, do many Ukrainians really want to stay in Germany?
Wittker: First of all: Working helps enormously with integration. But I think a lot of people want to go back, it’s just unclear at the moment when. But if, like now, so many private individuals and so many companies offer help as a common social task, you can achieve a lot. Not only in this country, but also on a European level.
Prettl: I think it’s great when entrepreneurs like Mr. Wittker become active, they don’t hesitate and just do it. It’s about saving Ukraine, that’s my job as Honorary Consul.
So you guarantee the seriousness and that you don’t make a business out of it?
Wittker: Yes, we have been active in the personnel services industry since 2006 and are there for such matching via a platform. We have the Ukrainian-speaking employees on the one hand and our customers’ companies on the other. We’ve known them for a long time. And it’s not just the placement, it’s also about childcare and language courses, and many entrepreneurs can lend a hand there.
Is the welcoming culture in this country only as great as the shortage of skilled workers?
Wittker: The shortage of skilled workers in this country may be great, but we also sense the willingness to help among our customer companies. Why shouldn’t every company be there with its core competence? Entrepreneurs are also behind the other placement platforms such as “UA Talents” and “Job Aid Ukraine”. We don’t want to take advantage of the situation.
We can not only help in this country, but also in Poland, Slovakia, but also in Portugal or Spain and Hungary. Although most Ukrainians come to the EU via Poland, many also want to go further, for example to visit relatives in Portugal or Spain. We can also help there because we have Ukrainian-speaking employees and contact points in the form of offices.
>> Read here: These Ukrainian entrepreneurs want to help their compatriots find jobs
Mr. Prettl, your group of companies includes four plants in the Ukraine. How are the around 2,000 employees there doing?
Prettl: We have plants in Kamianets-Podilskyi, Chernivsti and Lviv. This is in western Ukraine. The infrastructure in these cities is fully intact. Electricity, gas, IT, all necessary supply media work.
Does that mean they all still work for you?
Prettl: Yes. The day after the war broke out, we asked our employees if they could work – and over 80 percent came to work. Currently there are even 95 percent who work every day. The work helps them maintain a sense of normality – and our employees want to show that Ukraine remains an important part of the supply chain.
But weren’t the male employees drafted?
Prettl: Only very few.
“The mediation is not enough.”
(Photo: JobImpulse)
How much do you make in Ukraine?
Willi Prettl: It is around 40 million euros, which corresponds to 40 percent of the European automotive business of 100 million euros. The lion’s share is in the automotive sector, especially the wiring systems.
You were also active in Russia before the war. Did you retire there?
Prettl: We cut all connections there.
How did your perspective change again after the reports from Butscha?
Prettl: If we were hoping beforehand that there would be a peaceful agreement within the next few weeks, we now see a long-term catastrophe.
After all, car manufacturers are dependent on products from their Ukrainian plants. How big is the pressure on your company, Mr. Prettl?
Prettl: The pressure on suppliers has increased in recent years, especially due to Corona. We handle this confidently and see every change as an opportunity.
“We are part of the reconstruction of Ukraine”
The German automotive supplier Leoni now also produces outside of the Ukraine. They also?
Prettl: We tend to produce more in Ukraine at the moment. Of course there are contingency plans, we are also producing more in other regions, we have to be prepared for the fact that the war could continue. So far nothing has happened in our Ukrainian plants.
Mr. Wittker, if you look to the future: How will things continue, will you discontinue the platform?
Wittker: I see it as a long-term project. Even if there is an agreement, we do not know where people can return to when the cities are destroyed. We are currently in conversation with a refugee from Ukraine who works in the IT industry. Together with her we want to set up an IT lab in the Ukraine and thus also go to the Ukraine with our second line of business – software development. We won’t stop platforming when the war is over.
What is your long-term perspective, Mr. Prettl?
Prettl: It’s frustrating when a country like this, which was still being built, is destroyed. We are fighting for German and European companies to help with the reconstruction. That’s a big task. You have to give the company that feeling of trust again, but unfortunately you can’t see that just yet. As Honorary Consul, I and our company are involved in the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Would you support the renunciation of Russian gas in this country?
Prettl: I can’t comment on that, I’m responsible for Ukraine. You know, a week before the start of the war we held a video meeting with around 140 German entrepreneurs, it was about long-term ideas with and in Ukraine. We didn’t think there would be war.
Wittker: There is certainly no company that is active in Russia that has not already assessed the overall situation or is constantly reassessing it. There is no blanket answer.
Mr Prettl, Mr Wittker, thank you very much for the interview.
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