Construction of a new salt production facility — Chornomorskyi Solezavod LLC — is nearing completion in Odesa region. The plant will produce both food-grade and technical salt, with a planned output of 15,000 tons per month starting January 2026, Ukrinform reports, citing the press service of the Kuyalnik National Nature Park.
Construction began in 2024, with US$2.8 million invested in the project through the state program “5-7-9%.” According to co-founder Vitalii Rudenko, the project — developed with specialists from Artemsil and Turkish company SALT PLUS — will become Ukraine’s first industrial salt plant built using innovative integrated technologies.
The production process will include several stages of deep purification, grinding, and a unique drying method, which, according to Rudenko, will enable the facility to supply more than 50% of Ukraine’s domestic salt demand.
Beyond industrial production, the company plans to contribute to the restoration of the Kuyalnik Estuary, where salinity levels in recent years have risen to critical levels, threatening its unique therapeutic muds. In summer, salinity exceeds 300‰, while the required range for preserving and regenerating the muds is 180–250‰.
To reduce mineralization, plant specialists together with the National Park are developing a solution without using budget funds. The approach involves basin sedimentation of excess salt, which will then be collected and processed at the plant. Similar technologies are used in the United States, Spain, Turkey, and other countries.
The new plant in Odesa region is particularly important after the shutdown of the state-owned Artemsil plant in Donetsk region in May 2022, which previously supplied 100% of Ukraine’s salt. It is now located in temporarily occupied territory, forcing Ukraine to import salt, including from Africa.
Currently, the only domestic producer of rock salt is Kation Invest, which on 7 November 2025 resumed extraction at the Tereblyanske deposit in Zakarpattia after a 1.5-year pause. Salt is also produced through brine evaporation at the Drohobych Saltworks in Lviv region, and in July 2025 the restoration of salt extraction in Ivano-Frankivsk region was announced.
As a result, the launch of Chornomorskyi Solezavod will significantly reduce Ukraine’s dependence on imports and partially compensate for the lost capacity of Artemsil, supplying the market with both food-grade and technical salt, while also supporting ecological restoration of the Kuyalnik Estuary.
