Ukraine's largest hemp processing plant launched in Zhytomyr region – photo
The Ma'Ryzhany Hemp Company plant has begun operating in the Ma'Ryzhany industrial park in Zhytomyr region. This is the largest enterprise in Ukraine for the primary processing of industrial hemp, the Ministry of Economy reported.
The Ma'Ryzhany Hemp Company restored an old flax mill and built a modern production facility with a capacity of 14,000 tons per year.
"We support every new production that implements modern technologies. This is a step towards the restoration of the Ukrainian economy and its independence," noted Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko.
The enterprise produces long fiber for the needs of the textile industry, short fiber for nonwovens, paper, construction and insulation products, as well as fireclay for fire concrete, chipboard and bioplastics.
"This is the first processing enterprise in the industry, which is being revived after the Verkhovna Rada adopted the law on lifting the ban on the processing of industrial hemp in December 2023," commented Dmytro Kysylevsky, People's Deputy, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Economic Committee.
The plant employs 200 people. The volume of investments in the first phase of the enterprise amounted to over $20 million. The production premises occupy 10,000 sq. m., the warehouse premises – 10,800 sq. m.
In 2024, the company sowed 890 hectares of industrial hemp, and in 2025 increased the area of crops to 1,200 hectares. These are the largest areas of hemp cultivation in Central and Eastern Europe.
Equipment for the new plant was imported into Ukraine with zero VAT and import duty. These are benefits provided by law for participants in industrial parks.
The hemp market in Ukraine has significant potential for growth, especially in the context of the global trend towards environmentally friendly, biodegradable, and sustainable materials, believes Bohdan Kitsak, a member of the Rada's economic committee.
The hemp industry can produce such types of products as fabrics, clothing, shoes, hempcrete, insulation materials, oil, flour, seeds, superfoods, CBD oils, creams, ointments, packaging, disposable tableware, paper, and animal feed.
According to him, Ukrainian products are already expected in such markets as:
→ The European Union, where there is demand for hemp fiber and healthy food products;
→ Canada and the USA, where the market for CBD, organic cosmetics and biomaterials is developed;
→ Asia, where textiles and bioplastics are needed.
"Today, the industry's enterprises are faced with the task of creating a full-fledged hemp cluster, a full-fledged ecosystem that will allow for the implementation of a closed production cycle from seeds to a wide variety of technical hemp products," the people's deputy emphasized.
- The creation of Ukraine's first industrial park of technical hemp and flax in the Zhytomyr region was announced in February 2023.
- On June 13, 2023, the former mayor of Glukhov launched a hemp industrial park in the village of Ryzhany.
- On August 9, 2024, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a decision to include the "Ma'Ryzhany" industrial park in the register.
