The IDS Ukraine Group of Companies (trademarks “Morshynska,” “Mirgorodska,” and “Alaska”) has called it illogical for the National Agency for Asset Tracing and Management (ARMA) to conduct a comprehensive audit of its financial and asset status during the competitive selection process for a new corporate rights manager.
The day before, ARMA announced the start of an audit of the financial and asset status of eight legal entities within the IDS Ukraine group (specifically, PJSC “Mirgorod Mineral Water Plant,” PJSC “Morshyn Mineral Water Plant ‘Oscar,’” and LLC “IDS Aqua Service”) prior to the transfer of the asset to the new manager. The agency sent requests to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), the State Tax Service (STS), and banks seeking details on cash flows since December 2022, an analysis of the over 1 billion UAH reported by the company to be in its accounts, and verification that former owners subject to sanctions have no influence.
“Conducting this audit is directly related to preparations for the repeat tender. Its goal is to prevent a situation in which the new manager receives the asset without complete information about the status of accounts, cash flows, and other material circumstances affecting its economic value,” ARMA explained.
The group of companies noted that the repeat tender was announced in advance, and potential participants are relying on figures that have already been made public; therefore, the measures initiated by the agency will not provide any practical benefit for the tender.
“The repeat tender was announced as early as July 10, 2026, and the deadline for submitting bids is August 22. Announcing an audit just a few days before the deadline for submitting documents is illogical, since its results will not be known until after the submission period has ended and will in no way assist the participants in the tender,” the statement said in response to ARMA’s published position.
IDS Ukraine emphasized that as of August 14, none of the group’s companies had received any official requests from ARMA, and that the audit of business transactions falls under the jurisdiction of other government agencies, which regularly carry out such measures. The company also noted that only the group’s corporate rights are under seizure, not its property or bank accounts.
Regarding the agency’s statement about the possible continued influence of former beneficiaries, the company noted that all shareholders—including those subject to sanctions and holding Russian citizenship—have been completely removed from management and have had no access to income or dividend payments since 2022, as confirmed by the State Tax Service.
“We emphasize that since 2022, none of the company’s shareholders has received dividends. This is officially recorded in the financial statements and confirmed by letters from the State Tax Service of Ukraine. Furthermore, this year, the Main Directorate of the State Tax Service in Lviv Oblast, based on a court ruling, collected 240 million UAH in net profit for 2022–2023 from PrJSC “Morshyn Mineral Water Plant ‘Oscar’” (part of the IDS Ukraine group),” IDS added.
According to the group, more than 50% of the shares are held by international investors: the Patarkatsishvili family (34.83%), the Georgian government (7.73%), and minority shareholders (7.45%). At the same time, the company’s net asset value rose from 2.097 billion UAH as of the date of the seizure in June 2022 to 3.928 billion UAH by the end of 2025, while the group’s total value in the case before the High Anti-Corruption Court was estimated at over 8 billion UAH.
As previously reported, in the fall of 2022, ARMA, pursuant to a court decision, assumed management of the corporate rights, industrial designs, and trademarks of the IDS Ukraine group’s companies. In April 2023, “Carpathian Mineral Waters” was selected as the asset manager for “Morshynska,” but the transfer of the asset into its management never took place. In March 2025, ARMA announced the termination of the agreement on the grounds that it had not been implemented.
In November 2025, ARMA announced a tender to select a company to provide interim management of IDS Ukraine’s assets—including production facilities, logistics, and the uninterrupted operation of its enterprises.
The terms of ARMA’s tender were criticized by a number of companies ready to participate in the competition to manage IDS Ukraine’s assets. Geological Investment Group LLC, Verkhnodniprovsk Oil Extraction Plant LLC, and Individual Entrepreneur Vsevolod Omelianovych Bilas filed a complaint with the Antimonopoly Committee (AMCU) and requested the removal of discriminatory requirements in the tender documentation, which artificially restrict competition and effectively bar most Ukrainian companies from participating in the management of the group’s assets.
Among such ARMA requirements, potential bidders cited the requirement to have at least 15 highly specialized professionals (engineers, power engineers) on staff, whose higher education records must be listed in the Unified State Electronic Database on Education (EDEBO). However, the database contains complete information on diplomas only for those issued after 2000. Additionally, a contest participant must have “production of non-alcoholic beverages” as its primary business activity, which precludes the participation of professional management companies and consortia specializing in asset management.
Separately, it was noted that direct competitors of IDS Ukraine were admitted to the tender, which is prohibited by the new law “On ARMA” (which took effect after January 30, 2026).
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) accepted a complaint from potential tender participants.
In September 2024, the Ministry of Justice filed a lawsuit with the High Anti-Corruption Court seeking to transfer the assets of IDS Ukraine and other assets belonging to Russian oligarchs Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven, Andriy Kosogov, and the company Rissa Investments Limited to the state budget. Specifically, this involves 100% of the shares in PJSC “Mirgorod Mineral Water Plant,” PJSC “Morshyn Mineral Water Plant ‘Oscar,’” PJSC “Industrial and Distribution Systems” (IDS), as well as 100% of the shares in LLC “IDS Aqua Service,” LLC “Moschnost,” PE “IVA,” and SE “NOVA.COM,” which are indirectly owned by Rissa Investments Limited.
In October 2024, IDS Ukraine called on the Ministry of Justice to prohibit ARMA from taking any actions to transfer part of the assets to the management company and to carry out nationalization under a scenario favorable to the state.
On December 25, 2025, the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) granted the petition filed by potential participants in the tender to select an asset manager for IDS Ukraine and ordered the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) to launch a pre-trial investigation into the abuse of authority by ARMA’s management during the selection of a manager for the IDS Ukraine group of companies. According to the High Anti-Corruption Court’s decision in Case No. 911/13129/25, the complaint filed by an attorney from Asters Law Firm on behalf of New World Value Fund Limited regarding the inaction of NABU officials—specifically, their failure to enter information about a criminal offense into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations—was granted.
In May 2026, ARMA again announced a tender to appoint an asset manager for IDS Ukraine with a nominal value of corporate rights exceeding 53 million UAH, but received only one bid.
In July 2026, ARMA announced the launch of a repeat tender. The subject of the procurement included the corporate rights of several group companies at once. Specifically, the tender included 2,045,145 shares of PrJSC “Mirgorod Mineral Water Plant” (with a total nominal value of 21.47 million UAH), a 100% stake in the authorized capital of LLC “Moschnost” held by PrJSC “Morshyn Mineral Water Plant ‘Oscar’” (16.18 million UAH), as well as stakes in LLC “IDS Aqua Service” (990,000 UAH),
PJSC “Industrial and Distribution Systems” (4.5 million UAH), the Cypriot company International Distribution Systems Limited (8.8 million UAH), PP “IVA,” and DP “Nova.com” (1.5 million UAH).
The acting head of ARMA told Interfax-Ukraine in a comment that the collection of bids on the Prozorro platform will continue until August 22, and the electronic system may set the date for the tender to select a manager for the seized corporate rights of the IDS Ukraine group for early September 2026.
