Anomalous 0,01% and ties to NABU’s tapes: how Dnipro businessman Astion is moving toward management of IDS Ukraine

The National Agency on Asset Recovery and Management (ARMA) has been trying for a third year in a row to find a new manager for the seized assets of the IDS Ukraine group (the producer of mineral waters “Morshinska” and “Myrhorodska”), which previously belonged to the Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman. During the latest competition in late summer 2026 of this year, a sharp struggle unfolded, in which the main contender with dubious proposals turned out to be the Dnipro businessman Vasyl Astion, whose name had previously appeared on NABU’s tapes. How are the ARMA tender, the controversial “Sens Bank,” and the Agroholding connected?

ARMA competition chronicle: from the anomalous 0,01% to new bidder firms

The official market value of IDS Ukraine assets, which include the Morhinska and Myrhorodska plants, as well as the Alaska and Aqua Life brands, is estimated at more than 5 billion hryvnias.

During the next trilateral ARMA competition, participants competed for the smallest share of the future income from the enterprise. The race results proved quite telling:

Discount to the minimum: At first, companies affiliated with businessman Vasyl Astion and his business partners showed modest rates (around 30–40%), but by the final they sharply lowered their bids to anomalous levels.

Disqualification of the winner: First place initially went to the Asset Management Company “UkrKapital,” which proposed to manage the plant for only 0,01% of income. But ARMA rejected this proposal as absurd.

Next candidate: Legal Bureau “Prioritas,” which is ready to take the assets for 0,90%. The charter capital of this firm amounts to only 1 000 hryvnias, but it has direct legal and personnel ties to Astion (notably through joint court cases in the Agros-Mars case, which previously owned the Gavrilivski Chicken plant).

Who is Vasyl Astion and what is the connection to “Sens Bank” and NABU tapes

The name of Vasyl Astion has recently been appearing more often in the context of high-profile investigations. Together with fugitive businessman Timur Mindich and other suspects, he appeared in recordings of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau. According to investigative materials, this group developed schemes to control financial flows and raise funds for resonant pledges through controlled institutions.

Of particular note is the fact that UkrKapital management company belongs to Poltava businessman and deputy Serhiy Belashov, whose bank was once openly connected with Astion himself. Belashov himself has repeatedly become a subject of criminal proceedings (including overcharging and supplying gas to Ukrzaliznytsia and cases related to land fraud involving the Ministry of Defense).