Georgian oligarch David Bezhuashvili acquires Ukrbud for UAH 805 million
18 June 18:49
The State Property Fund of Ukraine has sold 100% of the shares of the state joint-stock company Ukrbud Construction Company at a large-scale privatization auction . The winner of the auction was Petro Oil & Chemicals LLC, which offered UAH 805.001 million, three times more than the starting price of UAH 262.6 million, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
According to the SPFU, five companies competed in the auction. According to the YouControl service, Petro Oil & Chemicals was registered in 2019. The company’s main activity is the production of refined products. The company is owned by Cyprus-based Lurak Investments Ltd, and the ultimate beneficiary is Georgian oligarch David Bezhuashvili, who controls the assets through the Georgian company Chemexim International Ltd.
Mr. Bezhuashvili is the owner of Georgia’s largest energy holding, Georgian Industrial Group, and the brother of former Georgian Defense Minister Gela Bezhuashvili. Both of them studied in Kyiv at one time, which could have influenced their interest in the Ukrainian real estate market.
Who else was bidding for Ukrbud?
Among Petro Oil & Chemicals’ competitors in the bidding was Universal Development, owned by Vyacheslav Suprunenko, the former son-in-law of former Kyiv mayor Leonid Chernovetsky. Other companies also participated:
- “Alarit-Prom, owned by Sergey Spodin,
- “Tamen by Volodymyr Lukianchikov,
- “Marina Ayab’s Techno-Online, which was only UAH 1,000 behind the winner.
What will the new owner get and what are his obligations?
Ukrbud includes 10 subsidiaries with a book value of over UAH 255 million as of the end of 2024. These include design institutes, training centers, and real estate in different cities of Ukraine, some of which have already been leased.
The privatization terms stipulate the following obligations for the new owner
- maintaining the company’s core business;
- repayment of wage and budget arrearswithin 6 months;
- preventing dismissal ofemployees at the initiative of the new owner or its authorized representatives.
Context: what we know about Ukrbud
“Ukrbud was one of Kyiv’s largest developers, but lost its reputation due to corruption scandals and the arrest of its former owner, Maksym Mykytas. Some of its projects were completed by other companies with government support. The transfer of the company to a new investor opens up the possibility of resuming operations and completing frozen projects.” as well as the reaction of Ukrainian banks and funds involved in mortgage lending to the company’s housing.
