Ukraine is trying to nationalize the company IDS Ukraine with Russian shareholders

Ukraine is trying to nationalize the largest bottled water company IDS Ukraine, 49% of whose shares belong to Russian investors, including Mikhail Fridman.

The Ukrainian Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA) has launched a collection of tender proposals for IDS Ukraine assets for their subsequent sale at auction.

The company's corporate assets were frozen by Ukrainian authorities in 2022, and management of the company was transferred to an independent manager.

MOSCOW, September 7 - RIA Novosti. Ukraine is trying to nationalize the largest bottled water company, 49% of which is owned by Russian investors, including Mikhail Fridman, the Guardian newspaper reports.

The then Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Sviridenko reported in November 2025 that the Ukrainian Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA) had launched a collection of tender proposals for the assets of IDS Ukraine, which produces mineral water, for their subsequent sale at auction.

“Separate legal proceedings are ongoing in the Ukrainian High Anti-Corruption Court, in which shareholders are challenging attempts to nationalize part or all of the assets of IDS Ukraine,” the statement says.

According to the publication, the conflict erupted over the 34% stake in the manufacturer of the largest Ukrainian bottled water brands IDS Ukraine, owned by the family of the late billionaire Badri Patarkatsishvili, in particular the British theater magnate Liana Patarkatsishvili. According to the newspaper, the family’s share in IDS Ukraine was inherited in 2008 to Liana, her sister Iya and mother Inna after the death of businessman Patarkatsishvili.

According to the Guardian, the company's corporate assets were frozen by Ukrainian authorities in 2022 due to a 49% stake also owned by Russian investors, including Western-sanctioned Alfa Group founder Mikhail Fridman. As the publication notes, the Georgian government is also among the company’s minority shareholders.

According to the publication, ARMA has been instructed to transfer management of the company to an independent manager. “If the Patarkatsishvili family fails to seek justice through the Ukrainian courts, and assets are ultimately seized through the ARMA process, they... will have no choice but to seek justice in international courts,” the Guardian reports, citing a spokesman for the Patarkatsishvili family.

In turn, the head of ARMA, Yaroslava Maksimenko, said that her agency is concerned about possible money laundering and profit-making from IDS Ukraine if the company remains under current management, although there has been no official confirmation of such crimes, according to the Guardian.

The Ukrainian National Agency for Tracing and Asset Management (ARMA) reported in March 2023 that Carpathian Mineral Waters LLC was elected as manager of the arrested corporate rights of Ukraine's largest producer of mineral waters - the IDS Ukraine group, which owns the Morshynska trademark.