Supreme Court overturns ruling to reinstate Motronivsky plant's license to develop Malyshev titanium deposit
Ukraine's Supreme Court, sitting as a panel of judges of the Cassation Administrative Court, granted cassation appeals filed by Ukraine's State Service of Geology and Subsoil and the Security Service, overturning lower court rulings that had reinstated the license of Motronivsky Mining and Processing Plant LLC (Dnipropetrovsk region) to mine ore at the Malyshev titanium deposit.
According to court materials and administrative case documents reviewed by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, the Supreme Court adopted the relevant ruling on February 5 and published it on February 6, 2026.
The Court considered the administrative case based on cassation appeals by the State Service of Geology and Subsoil and the Security Service against the decision of the Dnipropetrovsk District Administrative Court dated May 7, 2025, and the ruling of the Third Administrative Court of Appeal dated August 27, 2025, in a lawsuit filed by Motronivsky plant against the State Service of Geology and Subsoil. A third party asserting independent claims was Tiberius Plus LLC, while the Security Service participated as a third party without independent claims regarding the subject of the dispute, in a case seeking recognition of unlawful inaction and an order to perform certain actions.
As reported, in August 2024, Motronivsky Mining and Processing Plant filed a lawsuit with the Dnipropetrovsk District Administrative Court against the State Service of Geology and Subsoil, with the participation of Tiberius Plus LLC and the Security Service, seeking recognition of the State Service of Geology and Subsoil's inaction as unlawful and amendments to subsoil use license No. 3640, granting Tiberius Plus the right to extract titanium ores. Tiberius Plus also filed a lawsuit against the State Service of Geology and Subsoil requesting amendments to license No. 3640 for subsoil use (extraction) at the Malyshev deposit – Motronivsko-Annovska and North-West sections, which had belonged to Motronivsky Mining and Processing Plant.
During the first-instance proceedings, the State Service of Geology and Subsoil petitioned to involve the Security Service in the case as a third party, which the court granted. The Security Service explained that, in accordance with a decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), the beneficiary of Motronivsky plant [Dmytro Firtash] is subject to sanctions implemented through the annulment of subsoil use license No. 3640. The agreement concluded between Motronivsky plant and Tiberius Plus [on transfer of the license] was aimed at circumventing the imposed sanctions.
The lower courts denied Motronivsky plant's claims but upheld the claim of Tiberius Plus LLC. Specifically, on May 7, 2025, the Dnipropetrovsk District Administrative Court satisfied the company's claim, declared unlawful and revoked the State Service of Geology and Subsoil's order refusing to amend the license, and required corresponding amendments to be made to the State Register of Subsoil Use Licenses.
Disagreeing with the first-instance decision and the appellate ruling, the State Service of Geology and Subsoil filed a cassation appeal with the Supreme Court, requesting that the lower court decisions be overturned and a new ruling adopted dismissing Tiberius Plus's claim in full.
The Supreme Court panel of the Cassation Administrative Court granted the cassation appeals of the State Service of Geology and Subsoil and the Security Service. It overturned the Dnipropetrovsk District Administrative Court's decision of May 7, 2025, and the Third Administrative Court of Appeal's ruling of August 27, 2025, insofar as they had satisfied Tiberius Plus's claims against the State Service of Geology and Subsoil to declare unlawful and revoke the relevant order refusing to amend license No. 3640.
"In this part, adopt a new decision," the Supreme Court ruling states.
The Court denied Tiberius Plus's claim against the State Service of Geology and Subsoil seeking amendments to the State Register of Subsoil Use Licenses. "The ruling of the cassation court enters into legal force from the date of its adoption and is not subject to appeal," the decision concludes.
As reported, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko stated in early February that the NSDC's decision to impose sanctions on Tiberius Plus (Volnohirsk, Dnipropetrovsk region) would make it possible to annul its licenses for the Malyshev titanium ore deposit and sell them to new investors.
"In the case of Motronivsky Mining and Processing Plant, sanctions also apply to Tiberius Plus, which was involved in an attempt to remove the license from under sanctions. Strategic assets will subsequently be transferred to new investors through transparent auctions," she wrote on her Telegram channel.
Svyrydenko also added that the extension and imposition of additional sanctions against Firtash create legal grounds for annulling three licenses in Zhytomyr and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
Previously, the NSDC had already imposed sanctions that were expected to result in the annulment of the license for the Malyshev deposit owned by Firtash's Motronivsky plant. However, in June 2024, during a brief "window" when sanctions were not in effect, the businessman's company managed to sell the license to Tiberius Plus LLC. In turn, that company obtained a court ruling obligating The State Service of Geology and Subsoil to approve the transfer of the license to the new owner.
According to YouControl data, 100% of Tiberius Plus LLC is owned by Kyiv resident Oleksiy Shestiuk.
Motronivsky Mining and Processing Plant is part of the titanium business of Group DF controlled by Firtash.
The mining division of Group DF's titanium business includes Mezhyrichensk mining and processing plant LLC and Valki-Ilmenite LLC. As part of its titanium business development strategy, Group DF plans the construction of two additional new mining and processing plants – Stremyhorodsky plant (Zhytomyr region) and Motronivsky plant (Dnipropetrovsk region).
