Kharkiv woman Yulia Gerasimenko and her husband created a snail farm in their own backyard when the Russians destroyed the previous business. Julia is a pediatrician by education, before the full-scale invasion, the couple had their own service station. In March 2022, a Russian missile hit it. At first it was very difficult mentally and physically. Later, having recovered from the stress, they decided that they needed to do something further. The idea appeared to create a snail breeding business. They sold the car and invested in a new business. We studied a lot of information about the breeding of snails, what exactly they eat, the conditions of cultivation. Julia attended webinars on snail breeding, visited farms in Poltava and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Yulia and her husband bought the first snails for breeding in the Dnipro. They settled in a renovated barn – in a humid climate, snails lay their eggs. Cone shields were installed next to the barn, where snails can crawl. In autumn, the first harvest of snails was collected and sold to restaurants in Kharkiv.
When Yulia found out about the “Own business” program, she and her husband decided to take advantage of the opportunity and not lose their chance to receive a grant from the state for business development. At the end of 2023, the woman applied for a micro-grant on the Diya portal, developed a business plan and defended the project at the commission of the Kharkiv Regional Employment Center. The grant funds were used to purchase a greenhouse to grow snails in early spring, a misting system to support snail fry, a fence net to prevent snails from escaping the farm, and a pump to water the farm.
Currently, the snail farm is developing, the entrepreneur has already employed two workers.
Director of the Kharkiv Regional Employment Center Олександр Котуков visited the farm. I talked with the businesswoman, informed about the active support programs for employers by the employment service.
Ms. Yulia conducted a tour, explained in detail about the peculiarities of snail cultivation and shared her plans for the future.
Snails are highly valued in the kitchens of many countries around the world for their excellent taste and nutritional properties. In addition, biologically active substances of snail meat are used in cosmetology. But according to the entrepreneur, she and her husband want to work for the domestic consumer, not for export.
Now snails are sold to restaurants in Kharkiv and Odesa.
Excursions and tastings are also held at the farm.
See the link for more information about the snail farm https://www.instagram.com/ge_ravlik?igsh=ZjBwaXo0bHdsMWs4…
If you plan to apply for a micro-grant, but need help, contact any branch of the Kharkiv Regional Employment Center or its structural division for advice http://surl.li/lntrn or write to us in Telegram t.me/KharkivOCZ
You can submit an application with a business plan through Diya http://surl.li/cjrkj
More about the program “Own business” http://surl.li/uohjs
The “Hotline” of the Kharkiv Regional Employment Service works from Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. by phone: 0800 600 498, 063 847 83 67, 096 055 48 69, 067 728 97 45, 097 970 40 68 .
With support Kharkiv Regional Employment Service
