ARMA to halt Gulliver complex manager selection once ownership transfer, asset seizure finalized

Ukraine's Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA) will suspend the tender for selecting a manager for the Gulliver multi-functional complex (MFC) in Kyiv once it receives official confirmation that the property is now owned by state-owned banks and the court has lifted the asset seizure, ARMA head Olena Duma said.

"The Gulliver tender on Prozorro will be halted once the State Real Estate Register reflects the transfer of ownership to state-owned banks, and once ARMA receives a court ruling lifting the asset freeze and authorizing its management," Duma wrote on Facebook.

She emphasized that issues related to the complex's credit history are outside ARMA's jurisdiction. The agency is not a party to any debt proceedings and has received relevant documents from the court. Moreover, debt servicing could not have been included in the asset management agreement or in any contract with the selected manager.

ARMA has already launched two tenders to select a manager for the Gulliver complex, but both were canceled due to noncompliant bids.

In July 2025, state-owned Oschadbank (80%) and Ukreximbank (20%) received ownership of Gulliver shopping center (TRI O LLC). The ownership rights were obtained as a collection for the debts of the beneficiary of Gulliver – TRI O LLC.

The Gulliver complex, located in Kyiv's Pechersky district, opened in 2013 and has a total area of 151,800 square meters. The construction of Gulliver was financed by Oschadbank, which provided TRI O LLC with a $460 million loan. The debt restructuring procedure under the loan agreement, with the Gulliver complex as collateral, amounting to UAH 18.1769 billion, was completed in 2020.

On June 3, the Shevchenkivsky District Court of Kyiv granted the Prosecutor General's Office's request to transfer the Gulliver multifunctional complex to ARMA for management, but not for sale. Kyivsky Court of Appeals on June 25, 2024 confirmed the decision. The Prosecutor General's Office submitted the request within a criminal investigation by the Bureau of Economic Security (BES) into possible tax evasion by Gulliver's management, amounting to nearly UAH 146 million. BES issued a corresponding suspicion to the director of Gulliver in May 2023.

Duma earlier said that the market value of which is UAH 7.6 billion according to the assessment conducted by an independent appraiser selected on a competitive basis, and the minimum amount of expected income is over UAH 17 million.

Previously, an investigation by the Schemes program reported that the company has financial obligations to state-owned Oschadbank and Ukreximbank totaling UAH 14 billion. It was suggested that the actual owner of the complex is the former owner of Mykhailivsky Bank, Viktor Polischuk to whom personal economic sanctions have been applied in April 2025.

According to data from YouControl, the ultimate beneficiary of the asset via Kyiv-based Mobil West LLC (40.63%) is listed as Viacheslav Ihnatenko. Other shareholders include Podemos (UK) with 22.07%, two companies from British Virgin Islands with 18.07% and 9.23%, respectively, and Hetiber Finance Ltd. (Cyprus) with 10%.