The Kyiv Commercial Court canceled the decision that enabled Irish CRH to acquire the Dyckerhoff group of companies in Ukraine, which previously belonged to Italy Buzzi.
The decision made by AMCU in September 2024 gave the subsidiary of the Irish company – CRH Ukraine BV – Green Light to acquire the Dyckerhoff group in Ukraine, which previously belonged to Italy Buzzi.
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Interfax-Ukraine reported that it is based on the basis of decision No. 910/13150/24 of February 13th.
In June 2023, Buzzi announced that his business in Eastern Europe on CRH for sale two integrated cement facilities, one close to Rivne (in the northwest) and the other in Mykolaiv (in the south). The total cost of the assets was € 100 million (112 million US dollars).
“The production units are flanked by two terminals for the distribution of cement. The group also works in the industry in Kyiv, Odessa and Mykolaiv in the Ready Mix concrete sector,” the company wrote in its press release.
After several discussions about whether the acquisition of these assets CRH would give a monopoly position on the Ukrainian market with AMCU of Ukraine, the AMCU initially allowed the acquisition in September last year, the AMCU wrote.
But on Thursday, the Ukrainian court canceled the decision in a lawsuit that was submitted by another great player on the Ukraine market, the Kovalska group, which works in concrete, building materials and real estate companies.
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“The main wealth of the Kovalska group for the production of concrete focuses on Kyiv with its market share in Kyiv and the surrounding region of over 50%,” the Kovalska -CEO Serhiy PylypeKo previously told Ukraine's Media Outlet Ekonomichna Pradva.
Amcu has never criticized Kovalska's actions and potential monopoly status, he said. If Crh Buzzi's business had acquired shops, it would have become Kovalska's direct competitor.
At the same time, AMCU's CRH could have been considered a monopoly – the company first submitted an application for Buzzi's business business in July 2024 and it was rejected. AMCU potentially saw the risks of CRH the market share and asked the Irish company to fix risks that can cause the abuse of the market share after taking over.
After AMCU replied as needed, he gave the green light to acquire the asset that the Kyiv Court does not agree.
According to materials on the case, the lawsuit argued that the AMCU's decision was illegal and unfounded, since the committee did not completely investigate and determine the relevant circumstances of the market concentration, wrote interfax-ukraine.
The main injury that AMCU made was to give CRH a green light, even though the Irish company appointed a member of the Podilsky Cement JSC of the Podilsky cement of the CRH ownership.
“Crh has already violated some of the obligations he received,” the court decided.
Such an obligation is that people who were appointed to the top management of Dyckerhoff Cement are not allowed to hold any positions in companies associated with CRH -Ukraine BV in Ukraine.
“On October 11, 2024, during an extraordinary general meeting of Dyckerhoff Cement Ukraine PJSC, Mariusz Tomasz Bogacz – a member of the Podilsky cement JSC, who is 100% owned by CRH Ukraine BV, was set up at the Court of Justice.
Interfax-Ukraine wrote that CRH-Ukraine BV is currently appealing against the judgment and argues that the acquisition of factories “was fully complied with with all legal requirements”.
The acquisition of CRH was also supported by investments by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)-in December 2023, CRH signed a mandate letter with the bank for the joint acquisition of Buzzi's assets in Ukraine.
CRH has been working in Ukraine since 1999, whereby its cement operations in the country have been being carried out under the Cemark brand since November 2021, including Podilsky Cement JSC (Khmelnytskyi Region), Cement LLC (Odesa) and Mykolaivcement PJSC (LVIV Region), the Media Outlet.
CRH operations in Ukraine also include the production of concrete and reinforced concrete products. The Police Energy plant in Bila Tserkva specializes in manufacturing strength. The Police Bedding Work in North-Odesa became part of CRH in 2020, said Interfax-Ukraine.
CRH is a leader in building materials worldwide and the largest in North America and Europe and operates 3,200 facilities in 28 countries. CRHS American Depot shares are traded on the New York stock exchange.