Ukraine’s water war pits authorities against billionaires linked to Russian investors

Ukraine’s attempt to take control of its largest bottled-water producer has opened a dispute with the billionaire family of British theatre producer Liana Patarkatsishvili.

Her family owns 34% of IDS Ukraine, while Russian investors hold 49%. Among those investors is sanctioned oligarch Mikhail Fridman. Ukrainian authorities froze the company’s assets in 2022 because of the Russian ownership, The Guardian reported.

Ukraine’s Asset Recovery and Management Agency, known as Arma, is now trying to transfer control of IDS Ukraine to an independent manager. Its head, Yaroslava Maksymenko, said legal and bureaucratic obstacles, along with resistance from shareholders unwilling to lose control of their assets, had repeatedly delayed the process.

The agency has also raised concerns about possible money laundering and the diversion of funds from the company. It has not, however, made any official findings of such crimes. The Patarkatsishvili family strongly opposes the measures. Liana, her sister Iya and their mother Ina inherited the stake after the death of Badri Patarkatsishvili, a Georgian businessman who built a fortune during the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The family says its members are not under sanctions and face no accusations of illegal conduct, arguing that Ukraine has no basis to seize their property. They say they will turn to international courts if they fail in Ukrainian courts. IDS Ukraine rejects allegations of financial misconduct and says it has not stopped production for a single day since Russia invaded in February 2022. The company’s future is also being considered by Ukraine’s anti-corruption court, where shareholders oppose efforts toward partial or full nationalisation.