Anti-Monopoly Committee pauses Bilshovyk machinery plant sale

On Nov. 17, the Anti-Monopoly Committee refused to consider an application to complete the controversial purchase of the Bilshovyk machine-building plant. The agency said that the application didn’t comply with its requirements.

Tycoon Vasyl Khmelnytsky and his business partners bought the Kyiv plant for a mere $53 million through an Oct. 27 auction that had just three bidders. Experts believe that the property could have easily been sold for three times as much.

Multiple media outlets alleged that Khmelnytsky-linked firms used dubious schemes to make the acquisition too risky for other investors. The committee is currently investigating the sale.