The State Property Fund is considering selling MAP via a «Dutch auction» with a downward price adjustment

The Mykolaiv Alumina Plant may be sold via a Dutch auction, archive photo NikVesti

Dmytro Natalukha, head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine, has suggested the possibility of using a Dutch auction during the privatisation of the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant. This format involves a gradual reduction in price.

He made these remarks in an interview with NikVesti, when answering a question about potential buyers for the plant.

According to Natalukha, the pool of interested investors may be broader than just aluminium producers. Among the possible buyers, he named gas producers and traders, companies specialising in the modernisation of industrial assets, as well as metallurgical enterprises interested in processing the accumulated sludge.

«In other words, there may be significantly more potential buyers than just aluminium producers. All the more so as a Dutch auction may be used for sanctioned assets, where the price not only rises but may also fall,» said Dmytro Natalukha.

A Dutch auction is a form of bidding in which the starting price is gradually reduced until one of the bidders stops the price from falling further. After that, bidders can compete for the asset by offering a higher price.

However, Natalukha did not specify whether this format had already been chosen for the sale of MAP. The final terms of the auction and the starting price are yet to be approved.

The Fund’s chairman also believes that selling the company during a full-scale war attracts investors who are prepared to take risks for the chance to acquire the asset at a lower price.

«They are prepared to take a risk, but to acquire such an asset at a discount, as it is being sold during a full-scale invasion,» he noted.

According to him, Ukrainian and foreign companies regularly enquire about the plant’s preparations for privatisation, the auction dates and the starting price. Natalukha did not name any specific potential buyers.

NikVesti previously reported on the mechanism for selling sanctioned assets, using the example of the confiscated «Hlukhivskyi Quartzite Quarry». If the first auction fails to take place, the starting price at the repeat auction is reduced by 50 per cent. Following an unsuccessful repeat auction, the process is set to switch to the Dutch model, with a further reduction in price.

As a reminder, the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant is scheduled to be put up for auction in the first quarter of 2027. In June 2026, the privatisation plan indicated an indicative starting price for the enterprise of 6.3 billion hryvnias. However, according to Natalukha, the final starting price will be determined following consideration of the prepared asset package by the Fund’s auction commission and the Cabinet of Ministers.

It was previously reported that the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant is scheduled to be put up for privatisation auction in the first quarter of 2027.

Furthermore, the State Property Fund has yet to decide whether the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant’s slurry storage facilities will be sold alongside the enterprise.

The Mykolaiv Alumina Plant, which belonged to Russian oligarch Oleh Derypaska, halted production at the start of the full-scale invasion. On 16 February 2023, the High Anti-Corruption Court ruled to confiscate the company’s corporate rights. In March 2024, Ukraine finalised the confiscation of the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant. From 20 March, the State Property Fund of Ukraine became the sole founder of the enterprise. Since then, the plant has been being prepared for privatisation, although the sale dates have been postponed on several occasions. In May 2025, the Fund attributed the delay to the preparation of the confiscated assets for sale.