In Ukraine, 88 flour milling enterprises have resumed work since the beginning of the full-scale war, with 22 enterprises starting work in 2024 and 10 in 2025, said Rodion Rybchinsky, director of the Union “Flour Mills of Ukraine”.
“As of the end of 2021, there were 678 industrial enterprises in Ukraine that worked in the grain processing industry. Unfortunately, during the full-scale invasion we lost 192 enterprises. They either remained in the temporarily occupied territories, or destroyed to the ground and stopped their work, or enterprises that were partially affected, or due to lack of raw materials, logistics capabilities suspended work,” he said during the Agro2Food exhibition in Kiev on Wednesday.
The expert noted that starting from 2023, Ukraine has begun to restore the grain processing industry. Rybchynskyy named the problem with grain exports in 2022 as the reason for this.
“Many agricultural producers saw a way out of the situation in opening grain processing facilities. They invested their funds. In addition, the state began to provide grants for restoration and for increasing processing capacity,” he explained.
According to Rybczynski, since the start of the full-scale war, 66 grain processing enterprises have resumed their work, while 22 enterprises started working from scratch in 2024. At the same time, about 10 grain processing plants were launched in 2025.
Analyzing the specialization of new plants, the head of the Union “Flour Mills of Ukraine” noted that 40% of new enterprises are engaged in the production of flour, 30% produce cereals, another 30% – pasta. Geographically, the new enterprises are located in western and central Ukraine.
Rybchynskyy emphasized that it is the construction of new plants, not relocation, because processing companies depend on the existing raw material base and consumers. He also noted the difficulty with transportation of mills, search for a new land plot.
According to the estimation of the head of the Union “Flour Mills of Ukraine” the cost of relocation of a mill costs its owners about $1 million. According to Rybchynskyy, grain processing enterprises that relocated their capacities can be “counted on the fingers of one hand”.
The expert added that as of 2024 Ukraine produced 2.34 million tons of flour, which is 22% less than in 2021 before the war, when the state produced 3 million tons.
Agro2Food, Flour Mills of Ukraine, Rodion Rybchynskyy
