There was an attempt to sell the Azov gas field for 630,000 hryvnias
This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General, and the details of the auction are confirmed by data from Prozorro.Sales.
The Specialised Environmental Prosecutor’s Office stated that it had prevented the sale of a gas field with reserves worth billions of hryvnias for a sum that was dozens of times lower than the starting price. According to the Office of the Prosecutor General, on 14 April 2026, the Commercial Court of Cassation within the Supreme Court upheld the prosecution’s appeal and declared the auction results, the special permit itself, and the contract for its sale invalid.
This concerns the Pryazovskoye field – one of the oldest in Ukraine. According to the data provided, it was discovered as far back as 1929. The field covers an area of almost 35,000 hectares, has over 110 wells and more than 2.2 billion cubic metres of proven gas reserves.
The statement emphasises that attempts were made to sell the special permit in gross violation of the law, without the mandatory approval of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine. According to the prosecutor’s office, the auction was conducted as a Dutch auction with a falling price, and the lot’s value ultimately fell by a factor of 39.
A separate section of the case concerns the sale procedure itself. According to information from Prozorro.Sales, on 7 August 2020, a special permit for the use of subsoil resources in the Priazovskoye gas field was put up for auction with a starting price of 9,623,200 UAH excluding VAT. The minutes of the electronic auction state that the bidding took place on 21 August 2020.
The report also notes that despite the field’s particular importance, only one company took part in the bidding. In the absence of competition, it secured the right to extract gas for 630,000 hryvnias. It is precisely this amount – 629,690 UAH – that is stated in the court documents relating to this dispute, which describe the auction results. According to the data cited in the publication, the value of the field’s reserves was estimated at approximately 7.8 billion UAH.
According to the report, the media linked this company to a Ukrainian politician subject to sanctions by the National Security and Defence Council. In the court ruling cited by open court databases, KZR Petroleum LLC is listed as the winner of the auction for the Pryazovskoye gas field.
The Office of the Prosecutor General emphasises that the court agreed with the prosecutors’ arguments and recognised that the transfer of the field had effectively taken place without competition, in violation of the law and contrary to the state’s interests. Thus, the state retained control over a strategic asset relating to gas production.
As a reminder, it was previously reported that Naftogaz is discussing a possible partnership with OMV Petrom regarding the development of a gas field in the Black Sea. This is a separate area of work aimed at expanding domestic gas production in Ukraine and the region.
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