The Head of the State Property Fund, Dmytro Natalukha, has announced a public timeline for selling seven priority state assets worth a total of 29.4 billion hryvnias. Auctions are set to begin no later than September 2026 and continue through the end of the year. Three key lots — Ocean Plaza ($100 million), Mykolaiv Alumina Plant ($86 million), and Odesa Port Plant ($106 million) — account for the lion's share of expected proceeds.
Where These Assets Came From
Ocean Plaza and the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant are not simply loss-making state enterprises. This is property confiscated from sanctioned individuals under the "On Sanctions" law. In March 2023, the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court transferred to state ownership 66.65% of the charter capital of the Investment Union "Lybid" company — the operator of the shopping mall — from brothers Arkady and Igor Rotenberg. Proceeds from the sale of such assets have a designated purpose: they are directed to the fund for eliminating the consequences of armed aggression.
"This asset has an estimated value of approximately $100 million. We hope it will be put up for auction on a transparent basis in the third quarter of 2026".
Dmytro Natalukha, Head of SPFU
Where the Complexity Lies
The state is selling 66.65% — not the entire shopping mall. The remaining 33.35% stays with Ukrainian co-owners whose rights were "frozen" due to connections with sanctioned structures. The auction winner will receive a controlling stake, but not monopoly control over the property. Beyond the share, SPFU also manages the right to claim a $148 million loan secured by a mortgage on the entire real estate complex — effectively a lever of influence over the entire asset.
Natalukha himself does not hide that he expects primarily domestic investors: "Regarding Ocean Plaza, I have a feeling that mainly domestic investors who have a stake in the mall will be competing". This hints that current co-owners may try to buy out the state stake — and competition over price would be minimal.
What Else is on the List
- OPZ (Odesa Port Plant) — $106 million, July–August; four non-disclosure agreements signed with potential buyers.
- Ocean Plaza — $100 million, September–October.
- MGZ (Mykolaiv Alumina Plant) — $86 million (≈6.3 billion hryvnias), November–December.
- Demurino Mining and Processing Plant — August–September; also a sanctioned asset.
Since the beginning of 2026, SPFU has conducted 90 small privatization auctions totaling 983 million hryvnias — already about half the annual plan of 2 billion hryvnias. Large auctions have not yet started.
A Test of Auction Honesty
Natalukha positions 2026 as "the year when state assets will begin to operate more efficiently — through open auctions, transparent preparation, and competition for the best price". But the transparency of large-scale privatization still needs to be proven in practice: if only current co-owners enter the bidding for Ocean Plaza without external competition, the opening price of $100 million may remain the final price — without any struggle for a markup.
If SPFU does not resolve the status of credit rights before the auction — whether to include them in the lot or separately convert them to equity capital — legal uncertainty will become the main argument against participation by international funds, which Natalukha hoped to see as buyers of the Odesa Port Plant.
