Ukraine to renew sale of mothballed penal facilities after war ends

The project for the sale of the penitentiary system’s property has now been put on pause until Ukraine seals victory and new investors express interest.

This was announced by Olena Vysotska, Deputy Justice Minister, in an interview with Ukrinform.

“Last year, almost 30 sites were scheduled for privatization, but paperwork was prepared for five only. We continue to prepare the relevant documents, I expect to see the best, most generous investors for our facilities, I want to sell them at the top price because I know on what I need to spend this money. Moreover, the price of our objects rose due to the increase in the cost of metal, concrete, and overall inflation. So I understand that to build a new object now, we need to sell about a dozen. That is why we are currently holding a project to privatize the premises of penal colonies and detention centers on pause, although there are no legislative restrictions on privatization. Meanwhile, we are preparing documents, awaiting a victory, and awaiting investors, whom we will offer our objects once the time is just right,” Vysotska said.

Asked how the money raised from the sale of a Lviv penal colony was used, the deputy minister noted that 70% was received in the Ministry of Justice's special accounts because VAT and the remaining 30% went to the Budget’s General Fund.

“We have great plans for this 70% of the amount in our special accounts – projects for the construction of a model institution and detention center. These projects are worth implementing so the money from the sale of the Lviv colony will go for services, including project estimates for the construction of new institutions and preparation for the sale of other colonies and pre-trial detention facilities,” the Deputy Minister explained.

As reported earlier, the Ministry of Justice launched the sale of the penitentiary system’s assets on August 6, 2020.

In 2021, the Ministry of Justice sold the Lviv-based Correctional Colony 48 for UAH 407.5 million. The winner of the open auction was LLC Development Engineering Service.