The State Property Fund will transfer equipment for the maintenance of sludge fields to the Ministry of State Property by the end of June

Mykolaiv Alumina Plant. Photo: Vitalii Koval, Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine

The State Property Fund of Ukraine will transfer equipment for maintaining the sludge fields to the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant (MAP) by the end of the month.

This was announced by Alla Riazhskykh, a member of the Mykolaiv Regional Council.

She stated that an inventory will be carried out at the plant in the near future. Following this, the red sludge is to be recorded in the plant’s off-balance-sheet accounts.

«This will make it possible to treat it as an asset with which lawful operations can be carried out — such as processing, reclamation and so on. It is encouraging that both the plant’s management and representatives of the State Property Fund of Ukraine are heeding the advice and opinions of the relevant committee of the regional council,» wrote Alla Riazhskykh.

The councillor also appealed to Anton Tabunschyk, Chair of the Mykolaiv Regional Council, with a proposal to involve the council’s members in the State Property Fund’s working group, which will draw up the terms of the plant’s sale.

«The specialist committee on environmental issues will always defend the community’s right to participate in any discussions concerning the region’s environmental and safety future,» she added.

It should be noted that, at the end of 2026, the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant is scheduled to be put up for privatisation auction with a starting price of around 6.3 billion hryvnias.

It should be noted that, two years after the confiscation of the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant, the State Property Fund has still not resolved the issue of sludge waste.

Earlier, the head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, Vitalii Kim, stated that once the war is over, the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant could become one of the first major industrial facilities to attract the interest of international investors. According to him, the plant could reorient itself towards European and US markets or serve as the basis for establishing aluminium production.

At the same time, the State Property Fund noted that the main obstacle to the privatisation or restart of the plant remains the risks posed by the war, rather than the company’s debts. This is precisely why Ukraine is seeking a strategic investor, particularly from the US or India.

Currently, one of the world’s largest aluminium companies, whose shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange, has expressed an interest in MAP.