Natalukha stated that the prosecutor’s office is blocking the sale of “Ocean Plaza”
19 June 20:00
The head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine stated that the prosecutor’s office wants to derail the sale of the “Ocean Plaza” shopping center: the allegations of undervaluation do not hold up to scrutiny, since the fund does not determine the value on its own.
Dmytro Natalukha, head of the State Property Fund, wrote about this on Facebook, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
According to him, there are three allegations: possible undervaluation of “Ocean Plaza,” interference in the appraisal process, and the sale of the shopping center to a predetermined buyer.
Natalukha emphasizes that the Fund does not determine the value of the shopping center, does not conduct the appraisal, and is technically unable to sell the shopping center to a predetermined party.
“Let’s set aside the rather inconvenient fact that, as of today, not only is the specific value of the shopping mall lot unknown—but neither the date nor the method of its sale has been determined yet. None of this has been established or agreed upon yet. In principle, we could end this discussion right here. After all, how can you undervalue something that hasn’t even been determined yet?” he wrote.
Natalukha explains that, based on an independent appraisal, the State Property Fund convenes an auction commission (which has not even taken place yet for “Ocean Plaza”) and submits the proposed starting price—not the value—to the Cabinet of Ministers. If this price exceeds 250 million hryvnias, then by law it can only be approved by the government.
“In their rush to conduct the searches, law enforcement officials probably didn’t have time to read CMU Resolution No. 75 dated January 21, 2026,” Natalukha wrote.
According to him, the appraisal is conducted by independent appraisers—private individuals who hold a special qualification certificate and do not work for the Fund. They prepare an appraisal report, which is then reviewed and verified.
The Fund’s chairman announced that “Ocean Plaza” will be sold at an online Prozorro auction.
“I would very much like to see who is capable of selling something at a Prozorro auction in real time to a predetermined buyer. Anyone who can promise that is either a genius or a lunatic,” Natalukha noted.
According to him, “the bottom line is that we’re seeing the discrediting and derailment of the entire privatization process in the country.” After all, such developments surrounding the shopping mall do nothing to make it more attractive to potential investors.
“Few investors will now be willing to take the risk of buying a shopping mall if, even before the asset is put up for sale, law enforcement officials have already come knocking on its door,” emphasizes the head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine.
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Natalukha stated that the Prosecutor General’s Office’s accusations are aimed at derailing the sale of the property.
“What more could the former owners of ‘Ocean Plaza’—the Russian Rotenberg brothers—want than for this shopping and entertainment center in the heart of Kyiv to remain state-owned? Because it’s always much easier for the state to take something away than it is for a new private owner, who will defend their investments,” he asserts.
Natalukha says the entire privatization process in the country is being discredited and derailed. He recently discussed this with the President. And this isn’t just about Ocean Plaza specifically. He also mentioned other properties.
“OPZ, Oriana, Odessa Film Studio, KharkivEnergoZbut, Indar. Someone is very opposed to the state regaining control over these assets and to transparent privatizations,” he wrote.
According to him, the next few weeks, if not months, will be very turbulent.
“Now I see that the process is in full swing. So, as expected, they’ll keep raiding our colleagues’ offices with new searches, handcuffing them at 6 a.m., and breaking their fingers—I don’t know if anyone could ever be prepared for this,” says the head of the State Property Fund.
Searches at the State Property Fund
The day before, law enforcement officials conducted searches at the offices of officials at the State Property Fund of Ukraine, investigating possible abuses during preparations for the sale of the Ocean Plaza shopping mall. This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General.
The Main Investigative Directorate of the National Police of Ukraine, under the procedural guidance of the Office of the Prosecutor General, is investigating a criminal case on suspicion of abuse of power or official position, which resulted in serious consequences, the statement said.
The investigation concerns possible abuses during preparations for the sale of the Ocean Plaza shopping and entertainment center, an asset confiscated as state revenue pursuant to a decision by the High Anti-Corruption Court.
According to the investigation, certain officials of the State Property Fund “may have acted in the interests of representatives of commercial entities to create conditions for the sale of this asset to a predetermined business entity at an artificially inflated price.”
In particular, the investigation is examining allegations of possible interference in the shopping center’s valuation process, the setting of the starting auction price, the determination of the terms of sale, and the restriction of the pool of potential buyers—which could lead to the sale of a state asset at a price that does not correspond to its actual market value and result in losses to Ukraine’s state budget.
During the investigative actions, documents that may be relevant to the investigation were seized. The pre-trial investigation is ongoing, the statement said.
As a reminder: In December 2024, the High Anti-Corruption Court upheld the decision to nationalize the multimillion-dollar debts of the “Ocean Plaza” shopping and entertainment center to the Russian oligarchs, the Rotenbergs, by imposing sanctions on the loan.
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