In 2021, Lviv transferred 3.6 million euros in advance payment to Polish company Control Process S.A. for the construction of a mechanical-biological waste processing complex with a capacity of over 250,000 tons per year. The project was financed from the city budget: community credit obligations and grants. Five years and nine additional agreements later — the factory remains unfinished, and relations between the city and the contractor have moved into international arbitration.
How the money was returned
After the contract was terminated on April 6, 2026, the municipal enterprise "Zelene Misto" (Green City) turned to the guarantor bank — Polish ING Bank Śląski — with a demand to pay the balance of unpaid advance. The contractor attempted to block the payment: the company filed a request to appoint an emergency arbitrator at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris. According to Zaxid.net, all of Control Process's demands were rejected. The bank transferred 947,000 euros to Lviv.
For the city budget, this is not a victory but a partial recovery of losses. The contractor managed to spend most of the advance — and, according to city council data, did not provide a complete package of project documentation, did not deliver part of the equipment, and refused to perform certain work provided for in the contract.
Five years of delays
The factory was supposed to be completed in 2023. Then — in February 2025. Then — in October 2025. Each postponement was accompanied by a new agreement: nine were signed in total. According to Forbes.ua, as of August 2025, the contractor had already received €29 million, but completion of commissioning work even by the final deadline looked unrealistic. An additional reason for termination was Control Process's attempt to block the bank guarantee itself — a protection instrument provided for in the contract.
"We cannot afford to waste time and community funds."
Municipal enterprise "Zelene Misto," after terminating the contract with Control Process S.A.
The Polish side reacted sharply. Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Bosacki called the termination an "extremely unfriendly step" that allegedly harms Polish-Ukrainian relations. Control Process claims that delays were caused by Lviv's own actions and insists: the total contract value is €40.9 million, while the city paid only about €30 million.
Arbitration: two venues, one dispute
The legal conflict has split geographically. The Lviv side is conducting the main proceedings at the International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce in Kyiv. Control Process insists that the only legitimate venue is the ICC in Paris — and there is already a decision from May 16, 2026, which recognizes the unilateral termination of the contract as unlawful. According to Vysokyi Zamok, the company is demanding compensation from Lviv, while the city is making counterclaims: debts for electricity, equipment rental, and the cost of restoring documentation.
- Total contract value: €40.9 million
- Received by contractor: approximately €29–30 million
- Returned through bank guarantee: €947 thousand
- Facility condition at time of termination: construction work — ~80%, equipment installation — incomplete
Meanwhile, Lviv announced plans to hold a new international tender and complete the factory with another contractor. The city continues to generate hundreds of thousands of tons of waste per year without modern processing infrastructure — a problem announced back in 2016.
The returned 947,000 euros represent less than 3% of the amount already transferred to the contractor. The real scale of losses for the Lviv community will be determined by arbitration: if the ICC in Paris confirms its jurisdiction and recognizes the termination as unlawful, the city may face significantly larger payments than it recovered today. The question is not whether the factory will be completed — but how much the community will pay twice for the same facility.
