ILI expert Svitlana Hordiienko explained what prevents the state from generating profit from the assets of IDS Ukraine
The seized corporate rights of the IDS Ukraine group – the producer of “Morshynska” and “Myrhorodska” – have not brought any revenue to the state budget for several years. This is stated in an article by Svitlana Hordiienko, legal analyst at the Institute of Legislative Ideas, for Ekonomichna Pravda.
“The asset was seized in 2022 as part of criminal proceedings against sanctioned Russian businessmen, including Mikhail Fridman. According to estimates, in 2025 the corporate rights of ключових enterprises of the IDS Ukraine group were worth approximately UAH 5.8 billion,” the expert said.
She recalled that in March 2023, the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA) held a competition to select a manager, which was won by LLC “Carpathian Mineral Waters.” However, actual management of the asset never began.
“The management company faced the need to obtain merger clearance from the Antimonopoly Committee, as well as legal requirements to coordinate certain decisions with the owner of the corporate rights. As a result, in April 2025 ARMA terminated the contract with the manager,” explained Svitlana Hordiienko.
According to her, the next competition announced in November 2025 on Prozorro also failed – this time due to a wave of procedural complaints from potential participants. While these complaints were being reviewed, on January 30, 2026, new provisions of the law on ARMA reform came into force. Under transitional rules, competitions without a selected winner at that moment are considered unsuccessful – which is exactly what happened with the IDS Ukraine case.
“A new competition will be announced in line with the updated legislation governing the selection of a manager. However, one should not expect a quick process, as the relevant technical solution on Prozorro is still under development. In addition, some necessary secondary legislation has not yet been adopted,” the ILI expert noted.
She added that in 2024, the Ministry of Justice filed a lawsuit with the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) to confiscate the assets of the IDS Ukraine group into state ownership. Although the case is still under consideration, confiscation could become a systemic solution.
“Ideally, this could resolve the issue of asset management. The state could sell the share owned by persons linked to the aggressor state on favorable terms and obtain funds to strengthen Ukraine’s defense capability. At the same time, the enterprise could continue stable operations. However, no decision has been made yet,” said Svitlana Hordiienko.
In her opinion, the IDS Ukraine case shows that having a valuable asset does not automatically mean its effective use by the state. Due to a combination of procedural constraints, delays, and legislative changes, an asset worth billions of hryvnias has generated no income for the budget for several years.
“The ARMA reform is intended to address some of the problems highlighted in this case. However, the new law alone does not guarantee quick results. Its effectiveness will depend on how quickly new procedures are launched, secondary legislation is adopted, and the system begins to function in practice. Only then will it become clear whether the state can turn such cases from examples of lost profits into stories of effective asset management,” the ILI expert concluded.