Almost 800 sole traders have been blacklisted by the AMCU for bid-rigging
This has been reported by OpenDataBot, citing the AMCU’s summary of information regarding the distortion of tender results. The Antimonopoly Committee itself publishes this information on its official website.
This list includes companies and sole traders whom the AMCU has held liable for anti-competitive concerted practices during tenders.
This refers to situations where participants in a procurement process only appear to be competing with one another, whilst in reality they have agreed on the outcome of the tender. In such cases, the state or local authority may end up overpaying for goods, works or services, whilst other market participants lose the chance to win the contract fairly.
How many sole traders have been blacklisted
As of the end of June 2026, there were 797 sole traders on the AMCU’s blacklist. This represents 30 per cent of all businesses on the list.
The number of such sole traders is rising. In 2024, the AMCU issued 242 decisions concerning sole traders; in 2025, this figure had risen to 306. This was the highest figure in the last ten years. In 2026, a further 186 entrepreneurs were added to the list, having been found by the Committee to have engaged in anti-competitive concerted practices.
Where are most of these sole traders found?
The largest number of entrepreneurs on the blacklist are registered in Lviv Oblast — 95 sole traders. This accounts for almost 12 per cent of the total number of such entrepreneurs on the list.
Next come the Dnipropetrovsk region — 81 sole traders, Kyiv — 78, the Vinnytsia region — 52 and the Ivano-Frankivsk region — 39.
This does not mean that these are the regions where the most procurement collusion takes place. The data show the place of registration of entrepreneurs whom the AMCU has already recognised as offenders in specific cases.
Which sectors have the most offenders
The largest group of sole traders on the blacklist operates in the wholesale trade sector. There are 231 such sole traders, accounting for 29 per cent of the total number of sole traders on the list.
A further 139 entrepreneurs are engaged in retail trade. The list also includes 47 sole traders from the catering sector, 33 from specialised construction works and 32 from the building construction sector.
In other words, the highest concentration of offenders is in sectors where the state, municipal enterprises and public sector organisations regularly procure goods, repair works, catering, services or construction.
What are the consequences for a business owner?
Being blacklisted by the AMCU has practical consequences for a business. For three years following the AMCU’s decision, such a participant may be barred from taking part in public procurement. This is precisely why contracting authorities check this list before determining the winner of a tender.
Following amendments to the legislation, the AMCU also maintains a public register of business entities held liable for distorting tender results. Access to information from this register is free and unrestricted.
Tender collusion is not merely a breach of procurement rules. In wartime, it directly impacts the budgets of local authorities, hospitals, schools, military procurement and infrastructure reconstruction.
When participants collude, competition disappears and the price paid by the state may remain inflated. As a result, for the same amount of money, the community receives fewer goods, works or services.
It is telling that almost a third of the AMCU’s blacklist consists of sole traders. This debunks the notion that bid-rigging is a problem exclusive to large companies. In procurement, risks can also arise at the level of small businesses, particularly where the same participants, similar bids and predictable winners recur regularly.
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