Kolomoiskyi’s arrested port transferred to ARMA management
The assets of the Chornomorskyi Rybnyi Port LLC, specifically its berths, will be transferred to the management of the National Agency of Ukraine for Identification, Tracing and Management of Assets Derived from Corruption and Other Crimes (ARMA). This transfer is part of the criminal proceedings on the illegal seizure of the port’s water area. Maersk, MSC, Hapag-Lloyd and other key carriers are considering changing their routes.
The decision to transfer the assets of the Chornomorskyi Rybnyi Port LLC was made by Kyivskyi District Court of Odessa on May 29, 2025, Censor.NET reports.
Criminal proceedings based on criminal offenses provided for in Part 5 of Article 191, Part 1 of Article 366, Part 3 of Article 362 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine are being conducted by the Investigative Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Odessa oblast.
In 2019, as the investigation found out, representatives of the Chornomorskyi Rybnyi Port LLC conspired with a state registrar from the State Registration Agency municipal enterprise to illegally re-register ownership of port infrastructure facilities to themselves. At the same time, the legal owner of these berths is the State Property Fund of Ukraine. That is, this is actually about the appropriation of state real estate - structures and a land plot measuring 31,000 square meters. As a result, the shipowners paid not the state, but third parties. Since, by law, the berths and their water areas are a single complex that cannot be separated, the court this year recognized them as tangible evidence, prohibited any actions regarding their alienation or transfer for use. Despite this, representatives of the Chornomorskyi Rybnyi Port LLC insist that such a court decision could cause financial losses for both the company and the state.
The Chornomorskyi Rybnyi Port LLC is considered one of the key hubs for container transshipment. Leading market companies, including Maersk, MSC, Hapag-Lloyd, CMA CGM, COSCO Shipping Lines, Arkas Line, Evergreen and others worked with the facility.
According to sources in the Ukrainian Sea Ports Administration (USPA), currently key global transport companies are exploring the possibility of changing their logistics. According to an interlocutor in the USPA, there is a possibility that due to legal difficulties, the port's operation will be unstable in the near future. Specifically, cargoes from Maersk and other operators may be blocked for a period ranging from several weeks to several months.
According to the registry data, the sole owner of the Chornomorskyi Rybnyi Port LLC is Antarktika PrJSC, owned by Ihor Kolomoiskyi's partner Yurii Kiperman. Registry data indicates that the founders of Antarktika PrJSC are three offshore companies of Ihor Kolomoiskyi and Hennadii Boholiubov, which featured in a court case in London as part of "Kolomoyskyi vs. PrivatBank" as companies controlled by him.
Ihor Kolomoiskyi was arrested on September 2, 2023, on suspicion of fraud and money laundering related to the nationalized PrivatBank, and has been in pre-trial detention ever since. In May 2024, he was charged with ordering an assassination attempt on a lawyer in 2003. In February 2025, the NSDC imposed sanctions against Kolomoiskyi and a number of other individuals due to "threats to state security". During his time in the pre-trial detention, the oligarch lost control over a significant number of his key assets.
