National Agency of Ukraine for finding, tracing and management of assets (ARMA) reported a large-scale cyberattack on its servers ahead of the final stage of the selection process for the manager of IDS Ukraine – the producer of Morshynska mineral water. ARMA leadership views this as an attempt to derail the process; an investigation is underway.
"ARMA's servers have been subjected to a hacker attack. An investigation is being conducted. On the eve of the August 22 deadline for submitting applications to participate in the competition to select a manager for assets controlled by Russian sanctioned oligarch Mikhail Fridman, ARMA's servers experienced unauthorized interference bearing the hallmarks of a cyberattack," ARMA stated in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
"Our specialists and law enforcement officers are analyzing not only the fact of the cyberattack itself but also the sequence of events surrounding the IDS Ukraine competition. We see alarming synchronization. A similar situation occurred this spring when Reuters reported a cyberattack: attempts at interference and hacking were accompanied by information waves and an uptick in requests from certain media outlets and People's Deputies. However, neither cyberattacks, nor information campaigns, nor political pressure will force ARMA to back down from executing the law," declared Acting Head of ARMA Yaroslava Maksymenko.
The deadline for application submissions is August 22.
In response, IDS Ukraine expressed surprise at such allegations, stating that they operate transparently, pay taxes, and assist the Defense Forces, making such accusations "look strange." The company also questioned the necessity of another audit of its financial indicators prior to the competition's conclusion, though it affirmed readiness for the review.
"ARMA's repeated claims regarding the alleged retained influence of former beneficiaries are groundless. Corporate rights were placed under arrest back in 2022. Since then, the business has operated fully independently. Over 50% of the company's shares belong to verified international investors: the Patarkatsishvili family (34.83%), the government of Georgia (7.73%), and minority shareholders (7.45%). However, absolutely all shareholders, including sanctioned individuals with Russian citizenship, have been completely removed from management and have no access to the company's income," the company stated.
As reported, in May, ARMA re-launched the search for a manager for IDS Ukraine's assets after canceling the previous competition. In April, ARMA had already reported a hacker attack targeting agency employees. At that time, the agency stated that attackers gained access to certain email accounts, but internal information systems were not breached, and no database leaks occurred.
IDS Ukraine's assets were transferred to ARMA's management based on a court decision. The assets represent an integrated production complex covering a full operational cycle: from mineral water extraction to production and distribution, including international operations. The company stated that the selection process "contains a number of significant flaws," asserting that ARMA lacks proper authority to conduct the competition and has failed to complete asset identification as required by law.
In March 2023, a manager was selected for two companies in the group – PJSC Morshynska Mineral Water Plant Oscar and PJSC IDS (IDS Ukraine). LLC Karpathian Mineral Waters was chosen, but the agreement was not approved by the Anti-Monopoly Committee and was terminated in 2025 as unrealized.
In late 2024, the Ministry of Justice filed an application with the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) to forfeit the corporate rights of all seven companies in the group to state revenue.
In the autumn of 2025, then-Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko stated that ARMA had initiated the transfer of the entire complex of IDS assets into management via a public auction. At that time, the group also pointed out the legal impossibility of paying dividends.
On June 22, 2026, it was reported that ARMA would hold a repeated selection process for a manager after only one bid was received in the initial competition.
