Hongyang Metal Industry - land disputes with the prosecutor

Vasil Kisil & Partners successfully represented the interests of Hongyang Metal Industry, an international investor into the manganese ore industry in Ukraine, at the commercial courts in land disputes with the prosecutor. Disputes concerned recognition as unlawful and cancellation of the orders of the Main Department of the State Agency of Land Resources of Ukraine in Zaporizhia region on lease-out of the state-owned agricultural land plots (total area 137 ha) and change of their intended use towards manganese ore extraction and processing, as well as invalidation of land lease agreements.

The prosecutor held that the Department acted in excess of its statutory authority when it issued the orders to lease out the land plots and change their intended use, and therefore, the court should recognize these orders as invalid and cancel them and should also invalidate the related land lease agreements.

The local commercial court has dismissed the prosecutor’s claims in their entirety. The court has concluded that there were no grounds for recognizing as unlawful and cancelling the orders and invalidating the lease agreements. According to the legislative amendments of 2013, the State Agency of Land Resources of Ukraine and its territorial bodies are authorized to dispose of state-owned agricultural lands for all needs.

At present, the litigation is pending in a commercial court of appeal.

Hongyang Metal Industry is a subsidiary of the Chinese ore mining company Hubei Changyang Hongxin Industrial Group, which makes large investments into the manganese ore industry in Ukraine. Hubei Changyang Hongxin Industrial Group is China’s second largest mining company specializing in the production of manganese ore, metal structures, anode plates, and hydropower engineering.