Poles buy Ukrainian mineral water: how the Maspex-KMW deal will reshape FMCG
24 November 2025 18:59
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) has allowed the Polish Grupa Maspex, together with a Ukrainian citizen, to gain joint control over two companies: Carpathian Mineral Waters LLC and Trading House Carpathian Mineral Waters LLC. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to information on the AMCU website.
The Cypriot company Dynalum Finance Ltd will become the formal instrument through which the control will be formalized.
At the same time, the AMCU also agreed on the parties’ concerted actions – non-competition and non-solicitation obligations. In other words, the parties immediately agreed that they would not set up competing businesses or take key people from each other.
The current beneficiary of both entities is entrepreneur Sergiy Ustenko. He owns 83.77% of KMV LLC (his father Petro Ustenko owns another 16.23%), and controls 99.9% of TD KMV LLC through the same Dynalum Finance Ltd. After the deal, Ustenko will continue to participate in the management, but now in partnership with an international group.
What is known about Carpathian Mineral Waters and what the group controls in the market
The Carpathian Mineral Waters Group operates in Lviv region, producing mineral water and beverages under the Carpathian Spring, Dzhereltse, and Sokovynka brands. This is a classic example of a strong regional player that has grown to a national scale.
According to market estimates, the company ranks second in the Ukrainian mineral water market with a share of about 10.4%. The leader is IDS Group with more than 40%: these are Morshynska, Mirgorodska and other major brands.
The financial indicators also look quite attractive: in 2024, KMV LLC received UAH 247.8 million in revenue, and KMV Trading House LLC showed about UAH 1.9 billion in revenue.
That is, it is not a niche business, but a serious asset with extensive distribution, presence in national networks and its own recognition among consumers.
Maspex’s scale: what comes with an investor to Ukraine
Grupa Maspex is one of the largest food holdings in Central and Eastern Europe. The portfolio includes more than 70 brands, including Tymbark, Nestea, Żubrówka, Soplica and other well-known names. The company owns 18 factories in different countries and has long been working with complex multi-category markets.
Despite the fact that in 2024, the holding’s net profit fell by 75.8% to PLN 36.5 million, revenue remained high at about PLN 4.8 billion. That is, the business felt the pressure of costs, inflation and the military context in the region, but its scale allows it to continue investing.
Against this background, the acquisition of the Ukrainian asset is a logical step: Maspex gets a ready-made local player rather than starting from scratch. Instead of building a distribution system from scratch, carving out shelf space and investing years in a brand, the holding enters an already established market through a company with its own history and sales.
Strategy: why Maspex needs Ukrainian mineral water
For Maspex, this is a classic strategy of entering a new market through M&A: buy a strong local producer and use it as a distribution platform for its own brands and a springboard for localizing production of certain categories where imports are too expensive.
The most obvious area is juices and beverages. It is more expensive to import a finished product in PET or glass amid expensive logistics and military risks than to organize local bottling under global brands. This is why you need a partner with its own production sites, good communications and an understanding of Ukrainian regulatory nuances.
“Carpathian Mineral Waters gives Maspex access to the raw material base of mineral waters, production infrastructure in a relatively safe region, logistics and a customer base in Ukraine.
For the holding company, this is a way to diversify risks, strengthen its presence in the eastern part of the EU and prepare for the potential recovery of Ukrainian consumers’ purchasing power after the war.
For the Ukrainian soft drinks market, Maspex’s emergence as a co-controller of one of the key players means increased competition on several levels.
First, the struggle between IDS Group and Carpathian Mineral Waters will intensify in the mineral water market, as the latter will now be backed by an international holding with strong marketing, R&D and logistics resources. This may mean more aggressive promotion, rebranding, portfolio rebalancing, and expansion into related categories.
Secondly, the juice and beverage market is getting another player with access to local production facilities. If Maspex decides to partially localize Tymbark or other brands in Ukraine, imports can be gradually replaced by domestic production, and Ukrainian plants will receive additional workload.
Thirdly, on the export side, Ukraine has a chance to become a production site for deliveries to the EU. If the holding uses the Ukrainian asset as a platform to produce some of its products for export, it will mean additional foreign exchange earnings, new jobs and technological investments.
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Risks and benefits for Ukraine
Economically, the agreement works in several dimensions. Ukraine receives an influx of European capital in wartime, which in itself is a sign of confidence in the market. For the state, this means
- tax revenues;
- an increase in the value of assets operating within the country;
- increased competition in one of the basic FMCG categories.
For the business community, this is another case that M&A deals in the consumer goods sector are possible even during the war if the asset has a strong brand, operating history and working distribution.
For Ukrainian beverage producers, this is less good news: a foreign player is entering the market that knows how to work for a long time, systematically and aggressively. The conventional local, comfortable oligopolistic market is beginning to move towards fiercer competition.
On the other hand, for the consumer, this is likely to mean a wider choice, new products, and stronger investments in quality and marketing. And for Carpathian Mineral Waters, it is a chance to grow from a regional champion to a full-fledged player on the Central European level, if Maspex implements its standard strategy of integrating local assets.
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