Public-private partnership – a very powerful, but not yet working tool
On 10/31/2025, the new Law of Ukraine “On Public-Private Partnership” (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 4510-IX), previously known as the Law of Ukraine “On Public-Private Partnership” (hereinafter referred to as PPP), came into force.
This Law No. 4510-IX is part of the European integration initiative.
Public-private partnership (hereinafter referred to as PPP) is a very attractive tool for both the business community and the country as a whole, but currently its implementation may cause some difficulties due to the lack of necessary experience among the organizers.
After all, firstly, this law only came into force in October 2025; Secondly, according to the data of the central and local executive bodies in Ukraine, as of 01.01.2026, a total of 201 contracts were concluded under PPP terms, of which 19 contracts are being implemented, 171 contracts are not being implemented at all, and 11 contracts are suspended due to the armed aggression of the Russian Federation.
Briefly, in essence, Law No. 4510-IX establishes a mechanism under which the management of certain objects of state or municipal property is transferred to the private sector. At the same time, the property itself remains in state (municipal) ownership, the state or MFIs can provide financial assistance, and the investor receives income in the manner specified in the contract.
A vivid example of a concession, as a type of PPP, is the project to transfer the first and container terminals of the seaport "Chornomorsk" to concession, which is actively torpedoed by the Ministry of Development. The project should become the largest investment in the history of Ukrainian ports – hundreds of millions of dollars in modernization and over $1.1 billion in budget revenues.
What is the trick of Law No. 4510-IX? And the trick is that the legislator generously expanded the range of possible concession projects. The state thus declared that it is ready to accept investments at all levels, from the smallest to the largest, and is ready to protect the interests of investors.
We believe that the PPP will work at full capacity in the near future, because, unfortunately, we have enough facilities that need restoration as a result of the war.
So, what does the new law on PPP offer us:
The possibilities of application have been expanded, now this includes the following areas:
1) production, transportation and supply of heat, distribution and supply of natural gas;
2) transport, transport infrastructure (rail, sea, river, road, pipeline, aviation, airfield infrastructure, electric transport, metro, etc.) and infrastructure of electronic communication networks;
3) water supply and wastewater;
4) healthcare, public health;
5) tourism, recreation, culture and sports;
6) waste management;
7) production, storage of electrical energy;
8) production and implementation of energy-saving technologies;
9) residential real estate, including modular houses;
10) education, scientific and scientific and technical activities;
11) electronic communications, digital infrastructure, information technologies and cybersecurity, etc.
The objects of PPP may be movable and immovable property, software, information systems, etc. These can be both existing and newly created facilities, or even facilities under construction.
In general, the list is very, very extensive.
Accepting all the challenges of today, the legislator has provided that private partners can attract donor funds from international organizations.
It is important that Law No. 4510-IX sufficiently protects the rights of private partners. A bunch of safeguards have been introduced that meet the interests of investors, such as registration of investor rights, obtaining easements by private partners, the possibility of replacing the concessionaire party, and even the possibility of suspending the contract for up to 5 years in the event of force majeure circumstances, or in the event of the subject of government making decisions that affect the implementation of the project.
And the main bonus: a guarantee of stability of legislation applies to the PPP contract. This means that the rules of the game will not change until the end of the contract term. Even if taxes in the country increase, the investor will be subject to the rates, benefits and conditions that were fixed at the time of signing. This is complete immunity from legislative surprises.
A separate magnet for investors is the opportunity to have private property within the project. The law allows for the allocation of "ancillary property", which will belong to the private partner, not the state. Provided that certain criteria are met, this opens up enormous scope for additional earnings and capitalization of assets right inside a large PPP facility.
The procedure for conducting competitions to determine a private partner has been radically changed. From now on, the preparation of a PPP project is carried out exclusively at the initiative of the public partner. And from January 2027, it will also be carried out exclusively within the electronic platform.
The preparation of a PPP project is carried out in two stages, except for the preparation of PPP projects with a pre-threshold value (the cost of which does not exceed 5.5 million euros), which have a "green corridor" in the form of passing only one stage.
The first stage involves the preparation of a concept note on the implementation of PPP.
At the second stage, the preparation of the feasibility study for the implementation of PPP.
The requirements for the content of the conceptual note and feasibility study are determined by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Unfortunately, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has not yet made changes to the above acts, so for now we are guided by the old versions that are still in force.
The legislator, as an experienced agrarian, knows that in order to produce a high-quality harvest, the soil must be prepared in advance for sowing. As a prepared soil, a potential investor is waiting for a simplified procedure for preparing PPP projects during martial law and for 7 years after its abolition. Such a special “microclimate” is provided for projects included in the List of state or local projects for the restoration of infrastructure and the economy.
When the foundation is laid, it is time to go the distance. The state has prepared three types of “tracks” for investors, each of which has its own characteristics:
Tenders with limited participation (Club format). First, just an introduction. You submit a short application, and the commission conducts a qualification selection. Only after this “filter” do the selected participants receive full access to the documentation.
Open bidding (Direct Path). A classic format where all the cards are on the table from day one. You see complete information about the object and immediately submit a ready-made package of documents. Maximum transparency and speed.
Competitive dialogue (Joint design). The most interesting option for complex cases where there are no ready-made technical solutions. This is a live process where you, together with the state, refine the project parameters, discuss risks, and look for the best financial models.
The final chord for any scenario is signing the contract according to the standard procedure.
The described procedure may seem complicated, but the Rasons Legal team is ready to go through this path with you and shorten it as much as possible, because we know the subtleties that the GPT chat will not tell you about even in the Pro tariff plan.
Public-private partnerships can become a new driving force that will not only contribute to the restoration of our State, but also provide an opportunity to benefit business.
Charles Tyson Yerkis is an American financier whose life story is the basis of Theodore Dreiser's "Trilogy of Desire". His career has become a classic example of the complex interaction of private capital and the state: it was through the mechanism of long-term concessions that he built the Chicago urban railway system and electrified the London Underground. As a strategic partner of cities, Yerkis attracted huge investments in infrastructure in exchange for monopoly rights, which was actually an early form of public-private partnership.
His life story is a fascinating story about the ups and downs of a strong and determined man, whose vague concept of morality often dictated the rules of the game in big business. At the same time, the thought is intriguing: how many more progressive decisions he could have implemented if, in this partnership with the state, he had listened to powerful lawyers whom he could trust. But history does not know the subjunctive mood.
So we can only analyze and, based on the results of such analysis, make the right decisions. And turning to Rasons Legal for legal assistance is always the right decision.
Senior attorney Veronika BODNARUK
