The court has ruled the sale of a special subsoil use permit in the Vinnytsia region illegal and canceled the results of the electronic auction, the purchase agreement, and the permit itself. During the proceedings, it was established that the bidding was distorted due to coordinated actions by participants and a lack of real competition. This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General, according to UNN.
The Economic Court of the City of Kyiv granted the lawsuit of the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor's Office of the Office of the Prosecutor General and declared the sale of a special subsoil use permit in the Vinnytsia region illegal
The court invalidated the results of the electronic auction, the purchase agreement for the special permit, and the special subsoil use permit itself.
The case concerns a 9.4-hectare plot with deposits of high-quality flux limestone suitable for use in construction and metallurgy. Expected mineral reserves amount to up to 2.8 million m³. Due to significant reserves and the possibility of open-pit mining, the deposit has high investment attractiveness.
In 2021, the State Service of Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine put the special permit up for auction. Despite the value of the deposit, there was no real competition during the bidding: the starting price was 510.5 thousand UAH, and the special permit was sold for only 542 thousand UAH — just 31.5 thousand UAH or 6.2% higher. Currently, the quarry with this deposit and an adjacent subsoil area is being offered for sale for 350 thousand US dollars, which at the NBU exchange rate as of June 10, 2026, is approximately 15.7 million UAH.
Prosecutors established that the companies participating in the auction did not act as competitors but engaged in anti-competitive concerted actions that distorted the bidding results. These circumstances were confirmed by a decision of the territorial body of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine.
In court, prosecutors proved that the participants' behavior nullified the purpose of the auction — ensuring fair competition and obtaining the maximum market price for the state for the right to use subsoil. The court agreed with the prosecution's arguments and declared the auction, the concluded agreement, and the special permit issued to the private company illegal.