A significant industrial hemp processing facility in north-central Ukraine will quickly start receiving its first harvest after a profitable rising season, marking a big step within the nation’s ongoing revival of its historic hashish economic system. Developed by the Ma’Rijani Hemp Firm, the ability is positioned on the Ma’Rizhany industrial park within the Zhytomyr area. The ability will initially deal with lengthy fiber manufacturing for the textile business.
The launch follows the primary full cultivation season for the challenge, which noticed industrial hemp develop to heights of two–3 meters in close by fields. Harvesting is now underway in fields inside a 20-kilometer radius of the commercial park, the place greater than 1,600 hectares can be found for cultivation. Whereas it’s unclear how a lot of this whole space contributed to the present manufacturing batch, the harvest marks the start of full-scale operations on the new facility.
In a March 2025 replace, the corporate stated it had agreements to supply hemp from 700 hectares, aiming to extend that to not less than 1,200 hectares by signing long-term contracts with native farmers.
“Centuries of Ukrainian hashish custom are revived after many years of oblivion and prohibition,” stated Ma’Rijani consultant Dmytro Kysylevskyy in a current Fb publish. “It’s a greater monetary assure for the farms that can grow to be companions of the commercial park.”
Targets for growth
The manufacturing facility’s present processing capability exceeds 10,000 tons of hemp biomass yearly, with plans to scale as much as 20,000 tons by increasing cultivation to 4,000 hectares.
Kysylevskyy stated the corporate is encouraging native growers to shift from “unstable and politicized grain provides to the European Union” towards hemp, which he described as a extra dependable, regionally anchored alternative. Current tensions between Ukraine and a few of its EU neighbors—particularly Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia—over grain exports have sparked commerce restrictions and farmer protests, drawing the agriculture sector right into a broader political battle.
That politicization additionally extends to hemp seed after a senior anti-corruption official was lately arrested for allegedly serving to his father export 20 tons to Russia in violation of wartime commerce bans. The case uncovered enforcement gaps and lingering corruption dangers regardless of new transparency measures.
Platform for business
Preliminary output deliberate from the Ma’Rizhany plant contains high-quality technical lengthy fibers for textiles and shorter fibers for nonwoven purposes resembling insulation and paper. Plans embody finally capturing hemp hurd for development supplies.
The Ma’Rizhany industrial park is envisioned as a hub for innovation in hemp-based manufacturing. With house obtainable for growth, the challenge goals to draw secondary processors to transform uncooked supplies into completed items resembling yarn, packaging, sustainable paper, and insulation.
Constructed on the grounds of a former flax mill, the manufacturing facility represents a $25 million funding thus far. If absolutely realized, the positioning might finally make use of 700 employees and help processing of 12,000 tons of hemp biomass yearly, with whole funding projected at $100 million.
Laying the groundwork
The challenge is a part of a broader nationwide push to reestablish Ukraine as a world chief in hemp manufacturing, supported by regulatory reforms and rising international demand. Ukraine’s adoption of a medical hashish regulation and rollout of an digital hemp registry have streamlined forms, permitting hemp to be handled like another agricultural crop.
With projections of regular progress, hemp acreage in Ukraine might climb from an estimated 3,000 hectares this 12 months towards 8,000 hectares in future seasons. Whereas precise figures stay unsure as a result of ongoing battle and environmental dangers, the launch of industrial-scale processing in Zhytomyr is seen as a significant milestone.
“Demand for hemp fiber on the worldwide market is rising,” stated Kysylevskyy. “That offers us actual momentum.”
