In Ukraine’s Vinnytsia region, Neborak, a veteran-led project focused on farming Australian blue crayfish, is moving into a scaling phase through a franchise model aimed at veterans, with baseline investment starting from UAH 2 million per farm, according to LIGA.net. The project was initiated by former paratrooper Volodymyr Bilenkyi, who is developing an aquaculture niche that remains uncommon in Ukraine while building a network of partner mini-farms with guaranteed product offtake.
Neborak’s business model combines elements of a franchise and a business incubator. According to the founder, partners are not required to pay a traditional franchise fee, but they must complete a crayfish farming training programme priced at EUR 1,000. These costs, along with part of the initial launch expenses, are expected to be covered through grant programmes available for veteran entrepreneurship.
Bilenkyi financed the first stage of the project independently. Before launching a crayfish and shrimp farm in 2025, he invested around $34,000 in acquiring old houses in the village of Mohylivka near Vinnytsia, converting them, and purchasing filtration, water disinfection, and aeration systems. After testing the two directions, the entrepreneur abandoned shrimp farming due to weak productivity indicators and focused on Australian blue crayfish, which, according to him, grow three times faster than local species.
In 2026, Neborak is moving to the next stage of scaling. For this purpose, Bilenkyi leased old silage trenches on the premises of the Institute of Feed Research and Agriculture of Podillia of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences, where he plans to create a new production site with open-air pools. To develop this site, the project has already secured UAH 1 million under the “Living Towards” programme (an education and grant programme by PUMB Bank, the Kyiv School of Economics, and the Future Development Agency foundation), as well as EUR 40,000 from the international TeamUp 2025 programme run by EIT Food.
For the investment market, the Neborak case is notable in several respects. First, it involves the development of a niche aquaculture segment with a relatively low entry threshold compared with traditional agricultural projects. Second, the business is scaling not through equipment sales or a rigid franchise structure, but through partnership, training, and centralized sales. Third, the project is integrated into the broader veteran entrepreneurship ecosystem, where sources of capital include grants, concessional loans, and specialized financial services.
Against the backdrop of growing attention to veteran-owned businesses in Ukraine, the Neborak model demonstrates how a combination of modest стартup capital, international grant support, and a franchise approach can create new growth points in the agri and food sectors. If scaled successfully, the project could become an example of how veteran initiatives move from a local format to a systemic business with a network of partner farms.
