After complaints and legislation: why ARMA canceled the purchase for IDS Ukraine
17 February 17:16
The National Agency for the Identification, Search, and Management of Assets (ARMA) has canceled the procurement of services for the management of seized corporate rights of IDS Ukraine group companies, which produce mineral water under the Morshynska and Myrhorodska brands. This was reported by NADRA.INFO with reference to the law firm Ario Law Firm, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
The electronic protocol on the cancellation is dated February 11, 2026. The formal reason is “no further need for procurement.” The decision was reported by NADRA.INFO with reference to Ario Law Firm, which challenged the terms of the tender.
Why the tender was stopped
The key reason is the entry into force on January 30, 2026, of a new model for selecting asset managers, provided for by the law on strengthening the institutional capacity of ARMA.
Under the new rules:
- all tenders in which no winner has been determined at the time the law comes into force shall be deemed not to have taken place;
- if a competition has been announced but is in the process of being changed or appealed, ARMA is obliged to terminate it.
This was the status of the competition for IDS Ukraine: it was at the stage of amending the documentation following the decision of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine on January 12, 2026, adopted due to complaints about discriminatory conditions.
Explanation from lawyers
Serhii Derkach, a partner at Ario Law Firm, explains that ARMA had no legal choice but to cancel the auction.
According to him, under the new rules, ARMA first classifies assets as simple or complex. For complex assets — and IDS Ukraine is one of them — there is a separate procedure involving a special eight-member commission (ARMA, the Business Ombudsman, the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, the Ministry of Economy, and the Ministry of Justice).
This means that IDS Ukraine’s assets require a complete restart of the tender process, this time under new, more transparent rules.
A long history of conflicts
The history of IDS Ukraine’s asset management spans several years:
- in 2022, the High Anti-Corruption Court seized the company’s corporate rights linked to Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman;
- in March 2023, Karpatski Mineralni Vody LLC became the manager;
- in April 2025, ARMA terminated the agreement with this manager;
- The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine initiated proceedings following the High Anti-Corruption Court’s decision on possible abuses during the selection of the manager;
- In the fall of 2025, ARMA announced that the situation had been “resolved” and that a competition would be announced, which happened in November, but has now been suspended again.
