News date: 6 November 2024
On 05 November 2024, the Commercial Court of Kyiv City prohibited the State Service on Geology and Mineral Resources of Ukraine from making amendments to the State Register of Special Permits for Subsoil Use regarding the change of holder (subsoil user) of the special permit for subsoil use issued for JSC Malin Stone Crushing Plant.
The Commercial Court of Kyiv City also prohibited signing, concluding and amending the agreement on the terms of subsoil use under the relevant special permit for subsoil use dated 24.01.1997 (Pyniazevytske deposit).
The disputed agreement for the sale and purchase of rights to use a special permit for subsoil use was concluded contrary to Presidential Decree No. 279/2023 dated 12.05.2023 on the enactment of the decision of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine dated 12.05.2023 ‘On the Application and Amendment of Personal Special Economic and Other Restrictive Measures (Sanctions)’.
Thus, the Commercial Court of Kyiv City made the first step towards recovery of the assets of a large industrial enterprise under control of the State in the case of illegal alienation of the rights of a crushed stone miner, used for reinforced concrete and asphalt mixtures in the Pyniazevytske deposit, carried out in defiance of government sanctions imposed on all assets of the company’s beneficiaries.
According to reports, on 30 October 2024, the Commercial Court of Kyiv City blocked an attempt to sell the Korosten deposit – the court ruled to prohibit the State Service on Geology and Mineral Resources of Ukraine from making amendments to the State Register of Special Permits for Subsoil Use regarding the change of the holder of the special permit for subsoil use issued for JSC Korosten Quarry.
Media reports suggest Unigran Group companies Korosten Quarry, Malin Stone Crushing Plant, and others were sold at a reduced price and despite sanctions by NSDC.