The first auction for the sale of Hlukhiv Quartzite Quarry LLC (Banychi village, Shostka district, Sumy region) and 22 real estate properties that were controlled by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska and confiscated in favor of the state under a February 2023 ruling by the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) pursuant to the sanctions law failed due to a lack of participants, according to a statement on the Prozorro.Sale website.
The starting price for the asset pool at the English three-round auction was set at UAH 98.64 million, but by the 8 p.m. Monday deadline for submitting applications, not a single investor had submitted an application to participate in the auction.
Dmytro Natalukha, head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPF), inviting investors to participate in the privatization of Hlukhiv Quartzite Quarry, whose quartzites have a silicon content of up to 99%, noted the possibility of reducing the sale price of the pool because it is an asset subject to sanctions.
The Fund told Interfax-Ukraine that if the first auction fails, the starting price at the repeat English auction is immediately reduced by 50%.
If that auction also fails, a Dutch auction is then held, with the possibility of a further reduction in the price.
As reported, in February 2023, the HACC granted a lawsuit filed by Ukraine's Ministry of Justice seeking the transfer into state ownership of enterprises belonging to Deripaska. "The court ruling concerns the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant, as well as the subsoil extraction companies Hlukhiv Quartzite Quarry, Khust Quarry and Zhezheliv Quarry. The value of the assets transferred to Ukraine exceeds UAH 10 billion," the Security Service of Ukraine said in a statement at the time.
Earlier this year, Natalukha said the Fund planned to put the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant up for sale by the end of 2026.
According to YouControl, while Hlukhiv Quartzite Quarry had revenue of UAH 0.16 million and a net loss of UAH 9.54 million in 2025, it had no revenue in the first half of this year and posted a net loss of UAH 5.78 million.
