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Bucher Porträts
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A fulfilled life
Shoemaker and Locksmith
A passion for shoemaking
They can seek his help as a shoemaker, who can resole their old shoes, or a locksmith, who can open their doors without making a big thing of it, or a tailor who can put a new zip into a leather jacket. Thanks to his activities as a shoemaker and a locksmith, carried out at Walter Friedrich Straße 1, he has become an important member of the service community in Buch.
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Volodymyr Sytnik has lived in Berlin for ten years, and in Buch for the last three. „I come from the Ukraine, from the town of Snamenka“, says the 36-year-old with a smile and begins to talk about his life in fluent German. „I went to school for ten years in my home town. In the Ukraine attending school is linked to training for a job. After school I went on to train as a shoemaker.“
However, the bright young man did not want to remain a shoemaker. He started a course at the Russian Telecommunications Institute. „I thought that the communications industry was the future, and I was very interested in it“, he recalls. After completing his course he began to work as an engineer.
Rethinking things because of the IT-Crash
Because he wanted to continue with his education, he came to Berlin in 1997. Here he studied German for two years, before attending the Technical University. „At that time IT was booming. Young engineers like me had big hopes for this business“, he recalls.
 Then along came the big Crash. IT companies collapsed like a house of cards. At the time economic experts believed that what was happening was only a readjustment of the market. However, suddenly, thousands of trained staff were out of a job.
„At that time I thought a lot about my future and wondered if there was really any point in continuing with my studies. What was the point if I could not get a job afterwards,“ remembers Volodymyr Sytnik. He stopped his studies after only 18 months.
In order to be able to support himself, he started work in the building industry. Because he was almost always able to find a solution to any problem and was very good at manual work, he soon became a foreman of a roofing company. However, the company went into bankruptcy.
„From then on, I and my wife thought I should become self-employed“, recalls Sytnik. „My in-laws had run a shoemakers’ and locksmiths’ business in Berlin Mitte for many years. They heard that a shop was up for sale in Buch. So I acted quickly - and jumped into cold water.“
Building up a customer base
When he took it over, the shop in Buch was in difficulties. „Three years ago, when I started, we did not have any customers“, remembers the young businessman. „However, by offering quality and reliability, I have built up my customer base step by step.“
As far as Syntik is concerned, the most important thing is quality. „It may sometimes take a little longer to repair the shoe“, he says „but I have always believed in the slogan: the impossible I can do immediately, miracles take a little longer.“
The fact that Sytnik’s services are so popular in Buch is not just due to the quality but also to his friendly manner. He chats with his customers and listens to elderly men and women for a little longer than he really has time for. „I think that in Buch there is too little communication between the generations. Lots of people tell me that things used to be different. Today, everything is so anonymous.“
He is also happy to see that changes are also taking place in Buch. „The shopping center is finally being extended and, in my opinion, Buch has also become cleaner.“
However, in spite of all these really good developments, Volodymyr Sytnik’s life looks about to be upset, and this will be due to a really major event: The father of two daughters is looking forward to a further addition to the family, who will arrive in August.
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At this site you will find portraits of Buch's citizens and institutions that we think you will be interested in. New ones will be dispalyed each month.
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