Benzinga & Bloomberg Reports Say Uruguay’s Cannabis Sector Is All Over & Now Only Employs 750 People

Benzinga

Multi-Million Dollar Cannabis Facility Auctioned For The Price Of A Studio Apartment: What’s Going On In Uruguay?

A medicinal cannabis production facility in Uruguay was auctioned off for just $335,000 — roughly the price of a two-bedroom apartment in the South American country, or the price of a studio apartment in the U.S. This figure has sparked considerable controversy, especially given that the company’s original valuation stood at $9.5 million.

The facility belonged to Pharmin, a company backed by Georgian capital focused on the production and export of high-quality medicinal cannabis to Europe and Asia. Despite its promising prospects, the company vanished suddenly from the market in 2024. The whereabouts of its owners remain a mystery.

Layoffs Without Severance And Owners Nowhere To Be Found

Pharmin was founded in 2019 and quickly became a notable player in the Latin American medicinal cannabis industry. With a 2.3-hectare (5.68-acre) property in Uruguay, the company had the capacity to produce one ton of dried flower per month. However, in the early months of 2024, Pharmin abruptly shut down, laying off 65 workers via WhatsApp messages. To make matters worse, not only were they denied severance pay, but they also weren’t deregistered from the Social Security Bank (BPS).

The Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MTSS) has attempted to locate the company’s responsible parties, but so far, their efforts have been unsuccessful. The only local contact, Nicolás Bustillo, brother of Uruguay’s former foreign minister, has also cut communication with authorities.

The Auction Of Pharmin’s Medicinal Cannabis Production Facility

Earlier this month, by court order due to the absence of the owners, Pharmin’s facilities were auctioned off. The sale was divided into two large lots. The first, a 24,000-square-meter greenhouse equipped with the latest technology, was sold for $205,000. According to Infobae, the buyer, a horticultural producer from Paysandú, is involved in both agriculture and drone-assisted forestry. The second lot, which included a fully equipped laboratory, was sold for $130,000 to a representative from Zonamérica, the business park where the facility was located

and here’s the Bloomberg report (paywall)

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-09-19/pot-companies-are-fleeing-uruguay-the-first-nation-to-legalize-marijuana?srnd=homepage-uk