Sergiy But announced his resignation from the position of chairman of the board of AT "Prozorro.Sales". He explained his decision on Facebook — without a conflictual subtext, but with striking symmetry: "Eight years ago I very much wanted to join. Now with the same strength I want to leave".
But is the second CEO of the company in its entire history. Before him, the position was held by Oleksiy Sobolev, who moved to the executive branch in 2023. But himself came to Prozorro.Sales back in 2017 as a financial director, then became an operational director — and only after the company's corporatization in 2023 did he head the board.
What remains after eight years
The numbers provide context. Since 2016, online auctions in the state electronic trading system Prozorro.Sales have brought organizers over 90 billion hryvnias — the result of almost 129 thousand successful trades. A significant portion of this came during the full-scale invasion: almost 30.3 billion hrn from the total amount was received by organizers during martial law.
In 2024, the system conducted over 24,000 online auctions, in which assets worth almost 19.7 billion hrn were sold. During auctions, the value of public assets on average increased more than 1.5 times.
"In 2024, we launched a major privatization and managed to find new owners for such large-scale facilities as the Hotel Ukraina, the United Mining and Chemical Company, and the sanctioned Aerok plant.
— Sergiy But, from the annual report of Prozorro.Sales
A state company without major scandals — a rarity
Prozorro.Sales is a joint stock company, 100% of shares of which are owned by the state represented by the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine. Control is exercised by an independent Supervisory Board, which includes representatives of the Ministry of Economy and three independent experts selected through an open competition. It is this Supervisory Board that will appoint But's successor — theoretically also through an open competition.
As of February 2025, 40 platforms are accredited to work with online auctions. According to the results of 2024, auctions brought organizers almost 22.1 billion hrn. The infrastructure that But is handing over to his successor is operating stably — and this may be the best argument in favor of a smooth transition.
If the Supervisory Board conducts an open competition to replace him — this will confirm that the corporate governance model in a state company works not just on paper. If the appointment is made quietly and without a competition — the question about the real independence of the board will remain open.
