ARMA calls 'hype' surrounding the search for manager of IDS Ukraine discrediting, clarifies terms of tender
The Asset Tracing and Management Agency (ARMA), within the framework of the implementation of court decisions on the management of the assets of the IDS Ukraine group, provided clarifications on the process of selecting a manager, while at the same time considering the appearance of public statements and materials from potential participants in the competition as aimed at discrediting it.
ARMA recalled that after the seizure of assets, the state is obliged to ensure their proper management. Leaving an asset without management means the risk of financial manipulation, downtime, depreciation or loss of economic value. That is why ARMA organizes management in the interests of the state and society.
The selection of the IDS Ukraine asset manager, ARMA noted, is carried out through the Prozorro electronic system. The terms of the competition are published in advance, the criteria are the same for everyone, and each stage of the procedure is recorded in a public digital environment. ARMA conducts preliminary market consultations and announces a competition to find a manager, and only after determining the winner is the asset actually transferred to management under the acceptance and transfer acts.
"The tender documentation does not contain requirements for specific companies or a narrow range of participants. Potential managers can confirm experience in any of the specified areas - production or sale of food or beverages, water supply or property management. This approach does not create advantages for any category of business," ARMA drew the attention of the participants of the competition.
The agency specified that all participants additionally undergo a check of financial capacity, transparency of the ownership structure and business reputation. The purpose of these requirements, according to the agency, is to ensure professional and responsible management of a strategically important asset.
"The agency records the intensification of public statements and materials aimed at discrediting the competition. The reason for this pressure is obvious: the assets of the IDS Ukraine group have been under the de facto control of persons who received significant income from them for years. Transferring assets to state management means the loss of this control, which causes resistance and attempts to influence the process in the public space," ARMA said.
The agency emphasized that the use of procedural mechanisms in the public sphere should not replace the legal procedure or affect the perception of the legality of the body's actions until the adoption of relevant court decisions
"ARMA acts consistently and transparently, ensuring the preservation of the economic value of assets, preventing their downtime or depreciation, attracting professional managers on a competitive basis, and accountability at each stage of the procedure. The management of seized assets is not a subject of discussions or manipulations, but a direct duty of the state, which ARMA performs within the framework of the law, publicly and under institutional control," the agency said.
In the autumn of 2022, ARMA, by court decision, received corporate rights (in particular, the Myrhorod and Morshyn factories), industrial designs, and trademarks of IDS Ukraine group enterprises for management. In April 2023, the company Karpatskie mineralni vodi was chosen as the asset manager of Morshynska, however, the transfer of the asset to management never took place. In March 2025, ARMA announced the termination of the contract as such, since it was not implemented.
On November 28, 2025, ARMA announced a new competition to find a manager for the company's assets. Companies with relevant experience were invited to participate: investment funds, distributors and other market participants with relevant expertise. Submission of applications continued until December 12, 2025.
The tender conditions were criticized by a number of companies willing to participate. Among them were Geological Investment Group LLC, Verkhovtsevo Oil Extraction Plant LLC, and sole proprietor Vsevolod Omelianovych Bilas. Potential participants stated that the tender conditions artificially restrict competition and effectively exclude most Ukrainian companies from managing the assets of Morshynska and Myrhorodska.
Among such requirements, potential participants cited ARMA's demand that bidders have at least 15 narrowly specialized staff members (engineers, power engineers) on payroll, whose higher education credentials must be recorded in the Unified State Electronic Database on Education. However, the database contains complete diploma data only from after 2000. In addition, the bidder must have "production of non-alcoholic beverages" as its primary business activity, making participation impossible for professional asset management companies and consortia specializing in asset management. Separately, the admission of direct competitors of IDS Ukraine to the tender was noted, which is prohibited by the new Law "On ARMA," entering into force after January 30, 2026.
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) accepted the complaint of potential participants in the competition.
In September 2024, the Ministry of Justice filed a lawsuit with the High Anti-Corruption Court seeking confiscation of IDS Ukraine's assets and other assets of Russian oligarchs Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven, Andrey Kosogov, and Rissa Investments Limited in favor of the state. In particular, the case concerns 100% of the shares of PJSC Myrhorod Mineral Water Plant, PJSC Morshyn Mineral Water Plant Oscar, PJSC Industrial and Distribution Systems (IDS), as well as a 100% stake in IDS Aqua Service LLC, Potuzhnist LLC, IVA Private Enterprise, and state-owned enterprise 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 actions to transfer part of the assets to the management company and to carry out nationalization under a scenario beneficial to the state.
On December 25, 2025, the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine satisfied the claim of potential participants in the competition for the selection of the asset manager of IDS Ukraine and obliged the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) to initiate a pre-trial investigation into the abuse of official authority by the management of ARMA when selecting the manager of the IDS Ukraine group of companies. According to the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice in case No. 911/13129/25, it was decided to satisfy the complaint of the lawyer of JSC Law Firm Asters in the interests of the company New World Value Fund Limited against the inaction of authorized persons of the NABU, in particular, regarding the failure to enter information about a criminal offense into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations.