LLC “Petro Oil and Chemicals”, affiliated with Georgian businessman David Bezhuashvili, has won a privatization auction for the sale of 100% of shares in the state-owned construction company JSC “Ukrbud”. The company submitted a winning bid of UAH 805.001 million — nearly three times higher than the starting price of UAH 262.6 million (excluding VAT).
According to the Prozorro.Sale system, in the final bidding round, the nearest competitor — LLC “Techno-Online” — submitted a bid of exactly UAH 805 million. Other participants, including LLC “Alarit-Prom”, LLC “Universal Development”, and LLC “Tamen”, placed bids ranging from UAH 307 million to UAH 750 million.
LLC “Petro Oil and Chemicals” is registered in Kyiv and owned by the Cypriot offshore entity Lurak Investments Ltd — a typical proxy structure commonly used for tax optimization and concealing true beneficiaries. The ultimate owner is listed as David Bezhuashvili, founder of the Georgian Industrial Group (GIG), a former member of the Georgian parliament and brother of former head of Georgia’s Foreign Intelligence Service Gela Bezhuashvili. GIG had previously acquired a concession to manage the Kherson Sea Commercial Port through its affiliated company “Risoil-Kherson.”
JSC “Ukrbud” engages in design and construction of industrial and civil facilities, workforce training, and operates multiple subsidiaries, including design institutes and training centers. Despite years of financial decline, the company retains a strategic portfolio of land assets and licenses in capital construction — assets deemed crucial for Ukraine’s post-war infrastructure recovery.
In 2024, the company reported a net loss of UAH 13.6 million on revenue of UAH 40.6 million (a 61% decrease year-on-year), with total liabilities amounting to UAH 16.4 million.
Over the past decade, Ukrbud has been repeatedly linked to high-profile scandals involving its former de facto manager Maksym Mykytas, who has been investigated for alleged corruption and misuse of state housing contracts with Ukraine’s National Guard.
The auction itself raises concerns over suspected collusion. Notably, LLC “Techno-Online”, which lost by only UAH 1,000, is an obscure company with annual revenue of just UAH 37,000 and a net loss exceeding UAH 25,000 (according to 2024 data). The company has no track record of participating in major public tenders and appears to have acted as a technical bidder, included merely to simulate competitive bidding.
