Special permit No. 634 for the Korostenskyi (Stremyhorodske) granite deposit in Zhytomyr region — a document issued back in 1996 — changed three owners in ten months and was supposed to become a "clean" asset in the hands of a person with no connection to sanctions. On March 31, 2025, the Supreme Court ruled that this transaction was void from the beginning.
What happened: three steps of the scheme
JSC "Korostenskyi quarry" was part of the "Unigran" group of businessman Igor Naumets — a citizen of Ukraine and Russia. On May 12, 2023, Presidential Decree No. 279/2023 of the NSDC blocked Naumets' assets and companies related to him. However, instead of confiscation, the assets began moving in the opposite direction.
On April 15, 2024, JSC "Korostenskyi quarry" sold special permit No. 634 to LLC "Novel Prom" owned by Mark Trabulsi. On October 22, 2024, "Novel Prom" resold the permit to LLC "Korostenska vydobuvna kompaniia" — a structure associated with businessman Serhiy Shapran. The second alienation occurred after the court imposed a ban on changes in the registry. For this, the State Service of Geology and Subsoil (Derzhheornadra) — the service that technically processed the transfer of rights — received a court fine. The total amount of transactions was 2.1 million hryvnias.
The logic of the scheme: why a "buffer" is needed
A classic sanctions evasion scheme involves an intermediary buyer not formally connected to the sanctioned person. The final buyer receives the asset ostensibly from an independent third party and can claim not to have known about the sanctioned history. In Ukrainian legislation, there was no prior court practice that directly qualified such a chain as void.
"The decision is important in the context of further development of judicial practice regarding the prevention of sanctions evasion through asset blocking."
Ministry of Justice of Ukraine
What the court decided
The Supreme Court applied the consequences of nullity to both contracts: special permit No. 634 was forfeited to the state, and the 2.1 million hryvnias paid to "Novel Prom" are also subject to forfeiture to the state budget. In other words, the court did not stop at recognizing the transaction as illegal — it also deprived the scheme participants of their "investment."
In parallel, a criminal proceeding is unfolding. As part of the National Police's special operation "Granit," 19 people received suspicions, including Shapran and Naumets directly, as well as notaries, accountants, and heads of enterprises. On June 24, 2025, Shapran was placed under arrest with a bail of 100 million hryvnias.
What remains unresolved
The Supreme Court's decision closes a specific transaction, but does not close the systemic problem. Serhiy Vovk, a judge of the Pechersk District Court, who in violation of jurisdiction removed arrests from assets and opened the way for their withdrawal, is currently not among the 19 suspects in the criminal proceedings. The Ministry of Justice delayed filing the corresponding lawsuit for over a year, citing a lack of "exhaustive information." Some assets of the group that were arrested at the end of 2024 and transferred to ARMA management continued to operate despite the arrests.
A precedent has been set — but it concerns an asset that was already resold twice, re-registered, and returned only through a higher court. If the Ministry of Justice does not file similar lawsuits regarding the rest of Unigran's assets under Shapran's control, the Supreme Court's decision will remain a precedent for textbooks rather than a tool for returning property.
