Head of State Property Fund acknowledges: Mykolaiv Alumina Plant privatisation auction in Q1 2027

Ukraine’s Mykolaiv Alumina Plant could go up for a privatisation auction in the first quarter of 2027, according to Dmytro Natalukha, head of Ukraine's State Property Fund. The government must approve the final auction date, which Natalukha expects to be announced by the end of October 2026.

In a recent interview with NikVesti, Natalukha said, “This is one of the few enterprises on our books that attracts regular and persistent interest.  However, a change of ownership would not necessarily mean an immediate restart of production. An investor could acquire the facility and keep it idle until operating conditions improve.

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Privatisation and production restart

Natalukha visited the plant on October 8 to assess its condition and safety. Although production remains suspended, employees continue to maintain the site and its equipment.

He said, “The enterprise is currently shut down, of course, but it can resume operations within just three months of a decision to restart.”  However, disrupted sea transport routes for raw materials and finished products remain a major obstacle.

Production at the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant stopped in 2022. Before the shutdown, the facility had a production capacity of up to 1.7 million tonnes of alumina annually, making it one of Europe’s largest producers by capacity.

The privatisation process covers a pool of sanctioned assets, including the plant, service and accounting centres, a security company, vehicles, and stocks of bauxite and alumina. The indicative starting price announced in June 2026 was UAH 6.3 billion (USD 140 million), with related assets valued separately. The auction commission and Cabinet of Ministers must approve the final sale terms, including the starting price and composition of the package.

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Potential red mud use

The future of the plant’s two tailings ponds remains under discussion. They contain more than 48 million tonnes of red mud, a byproduct of alumina production, and require ongoing maintenance. The State Property Fund previously said the ponds would be sold with the plant. But Natalukha said their inclusion in the privatisation package was still being discussed with the Ministry of Economy. He expects clarification by the end of October 2026.

Around 400 employees remain at the facility to maintain equipment, protect the property and look after the tailings ponds, compared with about 5,000 employees before the production shutdown. Natalukha said the plant currently receives no state financial assistance and is being maintained at its own expense.

He also identified potential uses for the accumulated red mud. “The tailings can be used and processed, including into iron ore pellets because of their high iron content. With certain technologies, it is also possible to recover other valuable components, including rare earth metals,” said Natalukha. 

However, the plant’s ownership, production restart and the final treatment of the tailings ponds remain subject to further decisions.

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Information credit: NikVesti, based on an interview with Dmytro Natalukha, head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine.