Oleg Kashlyak is one of the winners of the #VARTO veteran business financing competition program. He expands and develops the Merlion veterinary clinic in Lviv.
Oleg has been on the veterinary path since 1996, when he graduated from the Lviv Veterinary Institute. But in 2013, Oleg was overthrown from the position of senior veterinarian and appointed as the head of the fuel and lubricants department.
Therefore, from the beginning of the Maidan until 2016, Oleg was engaged in providing fuel to the Western grouping of troops. In the ATO, he went to the hottest spots of the front: from Debaltseve to Stanytsia Luhanska.
His gas station supplied all roadblocks where the National Guard of Ukraine was stationed. In 2016 Oleg organized his second laboratory of safe food products. It was designed to make sure that all products that went to the ATO, as well as those that were supplied to the National Guard, were safe. However, being in the ATO, he also took care of animals.
Oleg remembers: “There were many stray cats and dogs in the ATO. Together with the State Veterinary Service and the National Guard veterinarians, we vaccinated homeless animals in the area wherever the NGU served.”
In 2022, the man retired due to health issues. Around this time, his son graduated from the Veterinary University, so they decided to start their own business. Father and son opened the “Merlion” veterinary clinic. This name is symbolic for both of them.
The Merlion is a lionfish, the symbol of Singapore. According to the horoscope signs, the son is Pisces, and the father is Leo. “That’s how we got our Dr. Merlion, with the tail of a fish and the head of a lion. The lion is wise and fiery, the fish is calm water. Two elements at the same time”
In 2021 concurrently with opening the clinic, Oleg took business courses from the Ministry of Veterans Affairs. Then he made two business plans. One for the IOM (International Organization for Migration), which paid for his surgical table. The other is for the Lviv Regional State Administration, which bought him an artificial lung ventilation apparatus.
Today, the development of the veterinary clinic has reached the second stage of the business plan – the equipment of the diagnostic and laboratory department.
“This stage is 60% of what we planned to do with our clinic. I found out #VARTO program from Yulia Laputina (Minister of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine), who came to my clinic. I applied to the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation. Furthermore, I filled out an application for the #VARTO competition program and became one of those who received the financing. With the funds of UVF, I will pay for an ultrasound machine and a biochemical hemoanalyzer,” says Mr. Oleg.
Now the clinic has hired two students that will be trained to work with the new equipment. Previously, the veterinary clinic concluded a contract with the Lviv Veterinary University. Groups of students came, including foreign students. Oleg’s goal is to cover more university departments and to provide students practical knowledge. Oleg continues to maintain friendship with the military.
He says: “I do not have formal cooperation with them, but i maintain friendly relations. I am in contact with various power structures of the Armed Forces, and, of course, of the National Guard, because I served in together with them.”
Why do many people know a lot about the clinic? Oleg says it’s a good reputation that spreads quickly. “We constantly keep an eye on this question. because a good client service is often passed from mouth-to-mouth. Both cynologists and volunteers know about us. Because they brought us animals that we cared for, and then they recommended the Merlion veterinary clinic to their friends.” We are incredibly glad that we can support such clinics and the good deeds of our veterans.
