CEO and co-owner of the titanium company Velta Andriy Brodsky have taken interest in the extended sanctions by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) from June 24, 2024, which concern Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash and his assets in the titanium sector.

"Interesting events are happening around the titanium industry, especially in terms of sanction policy and future privatization. The NSDC decided to clarify the sanctions on Dmytro Firtash's assets. This decision cancels the license of Motronivsky Mining and Concentration Complex for the Motronivsky section of the Malyshivske deposit. And there are many interesting aspects here!" said Andriy Brodsky, CEO and co-owner of the titanium company Velta, on Facebook on Tuesday.

According to him, in 2014, by the time of returning the Vilnohirsk Mining and Metallurgical Combine to the state from leasing by Firtash's Group DF and creating the United Mining and Chemical Company (UMCC), there was no Motronivsky Mining and Concentration Complex or the same-named section. There was only one deposit – the Malyshivske deposit.

"How the Malyshivske deposit was divided into parts, no one knows, except for literally a few people. But suddenly a new mining plant appeared! The state has been trying to privatize UMCC for five years, but this is almost impossible because the state company's raw material reserves are depleted, meaning all the promising deposits are owned by Group DF's Motronivsky Mining and Concentration Complex," Brodsky said.

According to him, the state, by the NSDC's decision, annuls the license to develop the Motronivsky section. "At the same time, the state recently announced the urgent privatization of UMCC at a reduced price because we are at war," the expert said.

The head of Velta said that there is an active titanium asset within Group DF – the Mizhrichensky Mining, which, unlike Motronivsky, is built, operational, but not under sanctions, and its license is not annulled.

"Considering the above facts, I can predict as a specialist in the titanium industry that soon, the license for the Motronivsky section of the Malyshivske titanium ore deposit will be obtained by UMCC in one way or another. In turn, UMCC will be urgently sold soon. I think at a very attractive price and to a very attractive buyer. Which one? Well, I believe that the absence of sanctions and the annulment of the license for the Mizhrichensky deposit only support one version of the future owner of UMCC," Brodsky said, without naming the potential buyer.

As reported, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy enacted the NSDC decision from June 24, 2024, on extending sanctions against 390 individuals and 366 legal entities for another 10 years. Among them are Ukrainian businessmen Dmytro Firtash and Pavlo Fuks, as well as many Russian businessmen, including Gazprom's chairman Alexei Miller and VTB Bank's president-chairman Andrei Kostin.

Presidential decree No. 376/2024 from June 24, 2024, "On the application, cancellation, and amendment of personal special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions)" was published on his website.

Earlier it was reported that Group DF's titanium business extraction unit includes Mizhrichensky Mining Plant LLC and Valki-Ilmenite LLC. As part of its strategy to develop the titanium business, Group DF is also investing in the construction of two more new mining plants – the Stremyhorodsky Mining Plant (Zhytomyr region) and the Motronivsky Mining Plant (Dnipropetrovsk region). The amount of investment in the Motronivsky Mining Plant exceeds $115.7 million.