"Snail Paradise" on Tiligul. How a veteran started a shellfish business

Since 2021, veteran Oleksandr Pishchanyi has invested about $5,000 in the development of the Snail Paradise farm.

His shellfish business is located on the shores of the Tiligul Estuary in the village of Ukrainka, Mykolaiv region. This is a popular recreation area, where tourists from all over Ukraine come to. During the war, the coast of the reservoir was one of the few places in the country where it was not forbidden to swim. How to notes local publication MikVisti, the veteran's snail farm is one of the largest in the south of the country.

"His snails are delicious," says one of the local businessmen on condition of anonymity. Read how to run such an exotic business in the article LIGA.net.

An idea from Croatia

The menu of the Snail Paradise farm's cafe includes five types of shellfish dishes: Burgundy-style, with Chili, Gorgonzola, Pesto, and honey-mustard sauces. The price of one serving is 300 UAH.

Oleksandr brought the idea for his exotic business from Croatia. He went there to work after being demobilized from the ATO.

One weekend, the future entrepreneur and his colleagues went on an excursion to a local snail farm. There was not just food there, but also vacation houses on the shore of the lake. He found it interesting.

The veteran founded his own snail farm in 2021 in Ukraine. He rented a half-hectare plot in the village of Ukrainka, Mykolaiv region, and bought breeding stock of the elite Helix Maxima snail variety. Its peculiarity is its high reproductive capacity; it can reproduce six months after birth, writes veteranobonds.

To breed snails, Oleksandr created an optimal environment for the development of mollusks, using the method of drip irrigation and natural incubation.

At the same time, a veteran entrepreneur opened a café on the shores of the Tiligul estuary to sell the products. Snails were cooked and sold frozen.

At first, it was an experiment. "We worked in a test mode. But I realized that people were interested," Oleksandr recalls.

After the start of the full-scale invasion, Oleksandr suspended his activities for a year. But then, seeing the demand, he resumed. In 2023, he bought 100 kg of breeding stock and started growing mollusks again.

In November 2025, the cost of breeding stock on the OLX platform ranges from 250 to 400 UAH.

Tourists are the main customers

Oleksandr's business is seasonal – it operates fully from June to August. The main clients are tourists who come to rest on the estuary.

"There are more tourists now than before the war. There is no Sea of Azov, Koblevo is closed, so everyone comes to us," says Natalia Barabolya, head of the Ukrainian Starosta District.

Business on the Tiligul Estuary is beneficial to the community, as taxes are paid to the local budget and jobs are created.

"Local people work in the institutions, they come to work from the neighboring village of Rybakivka," says the starosta.

Oleksandr used to give tours of the farm, but gave them up. "We noticed that people are not interested. They just want to swim in the estuary, taste the delicacies, and that's it," the entrepreneur explains.

Production for yourself

Oleksandr planned to export his products. This is the main business model for snail farms in Ukraine. According to Pro Consulting, the cost of a snail in its shell is 3-5 euros when exported to France, Italy, Spain, and Poland. The payback period for this model is one to three years.

However, Mykolaiv region has an arid climate. This makes it difficult to grow a large batch that can be exported: some of the mollusks die.

The entrepreneur sells small batches to restaurants and cafes in Mykolaiv and Odesa. However, the main sales channel is his own establishment on the banks of the estuary, where he offers a gastronomic experience unusual for Ukrainians.

In 2023, Oleksandr sold about 800 kg of semi-finished snail products, in 2024 he sold a ton, and this year he sold 700 kg.

The entrepreneur reinvests the profits of Snail Paradise in the business and also finances another line of work, vegetable growing. He opened it to diversify his source of income and not depend on the season.

In the spring of 2025, FinStream supported Oleksandr Pishchanyi's vegetable business by providing UAH 1.3 million in financing. This was made possible by the purchase of veteran bonds by mobile operator Vodafone.

The materials were created by LIGA.net with the support of the Askold & Dir Foundation, administered by ISAR Ednannia within the framework of the project "Strong Civil Society in Ukraine – Driving Reforms and Democracy" with funding from Norway and Sweden. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of LIGA.net and does not reflect the views of the governments of Norway, Sweden or ISAR Ednannia.