Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

AMCU Approved Varus’s Acquisition of “KOLO” Store Chain

17 July , 2026  

The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) has approved the acquisition by Omega LLC—which operates the Varus supermarket chain—of Ariteil LLC, the “KOLO” grocery store chain owned by Gennadiy Butkevych, a co-owner of the ATB Corporation.

The approval was granted on Thursday, July 16, according to the agency’s website.

“This deal will be one of the largest in the Ukrainian retail market in 2026. The merger will significantly strengthen the company’s position in the convenience retail segment. The combination of Varus’s extensive expertise and KOLO’s many years of experience in the ‘neighborhood store’ format will create a solid foundation for further business expansion,” reads a statement from Varus on Facebook.

According to information on the KOLO website, the chain currently operates more than 250 stores in Kyiv, the Kyiv region, and Odesa. The first “KOLO” store opened in Kyiv in 2017.
According to the YouControl analytical system, the owner of Ariteil LLC is JSC “ZNVKIF ‘Magnitar’,” with Hennadiy Butkevych listed as the ultimate beneficiary.

In 2025, Ariteil LLC’s revenue grew by 23% compared to the previous year, reaching 3.2 billion UAH. The net loss increased to 124.9 million UAH. At the end of the year, the company’s total assets amounted to 1.1 billion UAH.
Varus is a national supermarket chain represented in Ukraine’s grocery retail market by the company “Omega.” The first store opened in 2003 in Dnipro. Currently, there are 119 supermarkets in various cities across Ukraine.

The chain operates in several formats: traditional supermarkets, To Go stores, and the Varus.ua online store.
Omega LLC is owned by the Cypriot company “Vegant Enterprises Limited,” with Valery Kiptik and Ruslan Shostak as the ultimate beneficiaries.

As of the end of 2025, Omega LLC increased its revenue by 20% compared to the previous year, to 24 billion UAH, while net profit rose by 37.8%, to 41.4 million UAH.

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