Oschadbank puts up for sale the assets of Bakhmatyuk’s agricultural empire: what is known
13 November 16:11
State-owned Oshchadbank has announced the final stage of the sale of assets related to businessman Oleg Bakhmatyuk‘s Ukrlandfarming group of companies. These are debt obligations on loans from previous years secured by the agricultural and production facilities of Rise-Maximco, Agroholding Avangard, Impevo Foods, and Pacco Holding. This was reported by the press service of the state-owned bank, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
The auction will take place on December 10, 2025, on the Prozorro.Sale platform in the format of Dutch bidding (with a price reduction).
The initial value of the assets is UAH 5.04 billion, the minimum is UAH 1.14 billion.
What assets are pledged
The pool includes elevators, poultry farms, an egg processing plant, as well as guarantees of individuals and legal entities. According to the bank, this is the last stage of the sale of Ukrlandfarming’s loan portfolio – previous auctions with a gradual price reduction were unsuccessful.
Who is Oleg Bakhmatyuk?
Oleg Bakhmatyuk is a Ukrainian businessman, former owner of PJSC VAB Bank and one of the country’s largest agricultural holdings Ukrlandfarming, which united more than 500 thousand hectares of land and dozens of agricultural enterprises.
Mr. Bakhmatyuk was born on August 14, 1974, in Ivano-Frankivsk.
In 1996, he graduated from the Chernivtsi Institute of Economics and Law with a degree in business management. In 2005, he graduated from Ivano-Frankivsk National Technical University of Oil and Gas with a degree in engineering, physics and management.
In 2001, he founded the Carpathian Financial Corporation, which was engaged in wholesale trade in food, alcohol, and petroleum products.
In 2002, Mr. Bakhmatyuk was elected to the Ivano-Frankivsk City Council as a member of the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine. He was a member of the Economic Renaissance faction and a member of the City Council’s Commission on Finance, Prices and Budget Planning.
In 2005, Bakhmatyuk was appointed head of the Department of Expert Evaluation of Investments and Corporate Finance at Naftogaz of Ukraine.
In 2006, he ran for the Verkhovna Rada of the 5th convocation from Lytvyn’s People’s Bloc, but was not elected. Also that year, he was appointed deputy chairman of the board of Naftogaz of Ukraine and bought controlling stakes in regional gas companies: “Ivano-Frankivskgaz, Lvivgaz, Zakarpatgaz, Chernivtsigaz and Volyngaz, which were later sold to Dmytro Firtash’s structures.
Since 2007, he has been the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Avangard Agro Holding (AVANGARDCO INVESTMENTS PUBLIC LIMITED). In 2010, he listed Avangard on the London Stock Exchange and raised $208 million.
In 2011, he founded the UkrLandFarming agricultural holding (as a result of the merger of assets with Avangard).
In early October 2014 , VAB Bank, owned by Bakhmatyuk, announced the need for recapitalization as it began to have problems paying out funds to depositors. The bank applied to the NBU for a stabilization loan, and the NBU Board granted it UAH 1.2 billion. But 40 days after the loan was granted, VAB Bank went bankrupt. The money was not returned to the National Bank.
In November 2019, the NABU notified 10 people of suspicion of misappropriation of the stabilization loan. Among the suspects is the former owner of the bank, Oleg Bakhmatyuk. Later, Bakhmatyuk was put on the wanted list.
In May 2020, the Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court remanded Bakhmatyuk in custody in absentia. However, in June, the Prosecutor General’s Office closed the case against Bakhmatyuk.
In October 2022, the NABU and the SAPO announced that they had served suspicion notices to Roman Nasirov and his advisor Oleh Bakhmatyuk in the case of receiving $5.5 million and more than €21 million in undue benefits for VAT refunds to companies of the agricultural holding. According to the official NBU exchange rate at the time of the crime, the amount of money involved was over UAH 722 million.
In January 2025, the Pechersk Court of Kyiv ruled to recover UAH 1.22 billion from Bakhmatyuk in favor of the National Bank in the case of VAB Bank’s debts. In recent years, the businessman has been living in Vienna, where he is hiding from Ukrainian justice.
