The State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU) has put Drohobych Saltworks, one of the country’s oldest continuously operating enterprises, up for privatization for a second time. Salt has been produced there using traditional methods for more than 600 years. The SPFU plans to sell a 100% state-owned stake in the company, although the date of the new auction and the starting price have not yet been announced.
The relaunch of the privatization process was announced by Oleh Petrenko, acting director of Drohobych Saltworks LLC. According to him, the company is interested in attracting a private investor capable of providing additional capital and supporting the further development of production.
The transaction involves the sale of the state’s 100% stake in Drohobych Saltworks LLC. The company’s authorized capital amounts to UAH 47.6 million.
Petrenko previously noted that the company’s transformation was an important stage in preparations for privatization. On June 10, 2026, the state enterprise Drohobych Salt Plant was officially transformed into Drohobych Saltworks LLC. According to the company’s head, the change represented more than a new legal form and became one of the first cases of a complete transformation of a state-owned enterprise into a limited liability company under Ukraine’s new privatization legislation.
“As the company’s head, I support privatization — it can bring new investment and development to the enterprise. The key is for the process to be conducted consistently and transparently, without backroom decisions or unnecessary haste that could be tailored to someone’s interests,” Petrenko said.
Drohobych Saltworks is significant not only as an industrial enterprise but also as a historical site. According to Drohobych City Council, the saltworks has operated since 1250 and is considered the oldest continuously operating enterprise in Ukraine. At the same time, the official website of the modern Drohobych Saltworks cites 1390 as the first written reference to salt production, while 1250 is listed as the company’s founding date in its official records.
The saltworks remains one of the few enterprises in Europe where the traditional technology of producing salt by evaporating brine has been preserved. The integrated property complex also includes nine architectural monuments of local significance, adding historical and cultural value to the asset for a potential investor.
At the same time, the enterprise is positioned not only as a historical asset but also as an operating commercial business. Drohobych Saltworks emphasizes that the company is profitable and that privatization is expected to create conditions for attracting capital and further developing production.
An attempt to sell the enterprise was made previously. In 2024, the State Property Fund planned to auction Drohobych Saltworks at a starting price of UAH 57.6 million. However, the transaction was not completed. Drohobych City Council had advocated transferring the enterprise from state to municipal ownership.
In early 2025, the privatization process was suspended, including in connection with the introduction of public-private partnership reforms. In addition, on August 13, the SPFU cancelled the previous privatization procedure following a change in the privatization authority. The sale will now be handled by the SPFU’s regional office for Lviv, Zakarpattia and Volyn regions.
The renewed privatization of Drohobych Saltworks comes amid major changes in Ukraine’s salt market. Following the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine lost its main source of domestic rock salt production — the state-owned Artemsil enterprise in Donetsk region. Operations were suspended on May 25, 2022 due to hostilities, and the enterprise is currently located in territory temporarily occupied by Russia.
Before the war, Artemsil supplied virtually 100% of Ukraine’s salt needs, meaning the suspension of production forced the country to increase imports and seek alternative sources of domestic supply.
Zakarpattia region has become one such source. Kation Invest is effectively the only operating producer of rock salt in Ukraine and resumed extraction at the Tereblia deposit in November 2025 after an 18-month interruption.
In Drohobych, salt is produced using a different method — by evaporating brine. In addition, preparations to restore salt extraction in Ivano-Frankivsk region were announced in July 2025.
At the same time, new industrial salt production projects are emerging in Ukraine. Construction of the Chornomorsk Salt Plant began in Odesa region in 2024, with approximately $2.8 million invested in the project, including financing under Ukraine’s “5-7-9%” lending program. In May 2026, the plant reached its full design capacity of 15,000 tonnes of salt per month, enabling it to cover around 50% of Ukraine’s domestic demand.
Against this backdrop, the privatization of Drohobych Saltworks could represent not only the sale of a state-owned asset but also an opportunity to attract private investment into one of the few remaining traditional salt production facilities in Ukraine. At the same time, the future owner will need to take into account the enterprise’s industrial significance, its historical status and the presence of nine architectural monuments within the property complex.
The new privatization auction date and the starting price for Drohobych Saltworks have not yet been disclosed.
