In 2021, the State Service of Geology and Subsoil Resources put up for electronic auction a 20-year special permit for granite extraction at the Nataliv deposit in Zaporizhzhia District. The deposit covers 20.5 hectares with approximately 9 million cubic meters of granite suitable for crushed stone and rubble. The Office of the Prosecutor General characterizes it as one of the most promising deposits in the region.
What the "competition" looked like
Two companies participated in the bidding: LLC "Mokryansk Stone Quarry No. 3" and LLC "Vector ZM" — both registered in Zaporizhzhia Region. The winner was LLC "Mokryansk Stone Quarry No. 3" with a final bid of approximately 6 million hryvnias.
Prosecutors established that the competition between participants was fake. Evidence that the court recognized as sufficient:
- Shared IP address — both companies submitted applications from the same internet connection.
- Identical contact phone number in the documents of both participants.
- Common founders — the legal connection between the companies was confirmed by registration data.
- Financial assistance — one company provided funds to the other participant before the auction.
"The auction, the concluded contract, and the issued special permit are illegal"
— conclusion of the Commercial Court of Kyiv City
What happened after the bidding
In September 2025, Ukraine's Antimonopoly Committee recognized the actions of both companies as anticompetitive coordinated activities and fined each company 68,000 hryvnias — a total of 136,000 hryvnias. The AMCU decision became the formal basis for the prosecutor's lawsuit, which the Kyiv Commercial Court ultimately satisfied.
The special permit issued to LLC "Mokryansk Stone Quarry No. 3" was declared invalid. The auction results were annulled.
Nataliv is not an exception
This case is one episode in a broader phenomenon. As of April 2023, the AMCU was investigating signs of collusion in more than 50 auctions by the State Geology and Subsoil Service. According to data from the public organization "Geology of Ukraine," due to similar violations, the state budget could have lost tens of millions of hryvnias. The scheme is similar everywhere: two participants connected by address, phone, or owners simulate bidding and fix prices significantly below market value.
As reported by NADRA.info, the decision in the Nataliv deposit case became another precedent: previously, courts had already twice declared special permits purchased in similar schemes to be invalid.
What's next
The deposit legally returns to the state, but the question of a re-auction remains open — the State Geology and Subsoil Service has not yet announced new bidding. It is telling that the AMCU fine for collusion was 136,000 hryvnias for a lot valued at 6 million: if sanctions remain so much smaller than the potential profit from the scheme, will the risk calculation change for future participants?
