The AMCU fined LLC "Karpathian Mineral Waters" over 9 million hryvnias for false labeling of "Carpathian Spring"

The AMCU fined LLC "Karpathian Mineral Waters" over 9 million hryvnias for false labeling of "Carpathian Spring"

The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine reports that on March 5, 2026, it adopted a decision recognizing the actions of LLC «Karpatian Mineral Waters» as a violation of the legislation on protection against unfair competition.

This was reported by Nadra.info.

The violation consisted of disseminating, in particular, on the product label and the manufacturer’s website, false information due to the chosen manner of its presentation regarding the origin of the natural mineral table water «Karpatian Dzherelna» from the Ukrainian Carpathians.

The case was initiated based on a consumer complaint.

During the consideration of the case, the Committee used information provided, in particular, by the Western Scientific Center of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, the state scientific and production enterprise «Cartography», and the Institute of Geological Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

The aforementioned institutions reported that the South-Strutyn deposit, from which the water of the TM «Karpatian Dzherelna» is extracted, and the village of Strutyn in Lviv Oblast do not belong to the Ukrainian Carpathians.

Additionally, during the case review, the Committee examined the issue of consumer perception of the information disseminated on the labels of TM «Karpatian Dzherelna» water through a consumer survey. Thus, consumers may perceive the name of the water «Karpatian Dzherelna» in conjunction with graphic elements of mountains, fir trees, and a map marked with «Carpathians» as information indicating the origin of the water from the Ukrainian Carpathians.

Taking the above into account, LLC «Karpatian Mineral Waters» may gain illegitimate competitive advantages over producers and/or sellers of natural mineral table waters.

During the case review, LLC «Karpatian Mineral Waters» informed the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine of its intention to change the design of the labels for TM Karpatian Dzherelna water. Specifically, the Company plans to clearly state that «Karpatian Dzherelna» is solely a trademark and not an indication of the product’s regional origin.

At the same time, the product with the updated design has not yet been introduced into commercial circulation.

As a result of the case review, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine recognized the actions of LLC «Karpatian Mineral Waters» as a violation under Article 15-1 of the Law of Ukraine «On Protection Against Unfair Competition», imposed a fine of 9,422,082 UAH and ordered the cessation of the violation.

The beneficiaries of LLC «Karpatian Mineral Waters» are entrepreneur Serhiy Ustenko (83.77%) and his father, former Ukrainian politician Petro Ustenko (16.23%) (YouControl). As reported by ZAXID.NET, other family companies of the Ustenkos are focused on real estate, construction, and investment activities, although the main asset of the group is the production of mineral water.