The decision was the result of almost two decades of litigation, during which the Moldovan state challenged the right of the Ukrainian company Makstgru LLC to own the sanatorium.
The Economic Court of Cassation at the Supreme Court of Ukraine issued on December 17, 2025 final judgment in case No. 916/1457/19. The decision is not subject to appeal. The court rejected the cassation appeal of Maxtgroup and confirmed the ruling of the South-Western Court of Appeal of September 24, 2025, securing Moldova’s ownership of nine key properties of the sanatorium complex. The properties include the main building, swimming pool, administrative building, club and dining room, gas boiler house and several boarding houses. The total area of the returned objects exceeds 17 thousand square meters.
In addition, the court ordered Maxtgroup to compensate Moldova for more than 3.5 million hryvnias (about 70,000 euros) of court expenses incurred during the years of litigation.
It is noteworthy that the decisions of the Court of Appeal and then the Economic Court of Cassation under the Supreme Court coincided with the active phase of anti-corruption measures in Ukraine.
The history of the dispute began in 2008, when the Moldovan company SDY-INVEST GRUP SRL won the privatization tender and purchased the sanatorium for 73.3 million lei. The company paid half of the price immediately, the other half was to be paid within two years. In 2011, the Supreme Court of Justice of Moldova annulled the contract due to incomplete payment and obliged to return the property to the state.
As Ukrainian media wrote, the courts first recognized the ownership right for SDY-INVEST GRUP, and then the property through a chain of corporate transfers to other firms ended up in the ownership of Maxtgruppe. “The materials of this case contain evidence presented by the plaintiff together with written explanations, which, in the opinion of the plaintiff, confirm that all three enterprises – SDY-INVEST GRUP, LLC “Sanatorium-Preventorium “Moldova” and LLC “Maxtgroup” – at all stages of their existence were controlled or managed by one group of persons”, – stated in the court decision.
For several years, the Moldovan side challenged these decisions, pointing to the illegality of the property transfer. As a result, the South-Western Court of Appeal of Ukraine, to which the State Chancellery of Moldova appealed, recognized Moldova’s ownership of the sanatorium, and the court of cassation confirmed this decision definitively.
In its ruling, the Ukrainian court cited three key principles: until full payment is made, the buyer has no right to alienate the property; dubious corporate transfers do not create legal ownership; and the state can reclaim the asset even years later if the ownership right ended up with the last acquirer.
“Neither “SDY-INVEST GRUP”, nor “Sanatorium-Preventorium “Moldova”, nor “Maxtgroup” LLC are bona fide purchasers of the disputed immovable property”, – such a verdict was issued by the court.
The sanatorium “Moldova” is located in one of the last large vacant plots of Arcadia, which makes it an object of lust on the part of many investors and developers.
In the near future, the State Property Agency (SPA) of our country will initiate the registration of the ownership right and the actual transfer of the property complex into the ownership of the Republic of Moldova.
“The final return of this asset confirms the state’s commitment to protect public assets, including those located outside the country, using all available legal instruments,” notes the ASG.
Meanwhile, as recently wrote Logos Press, with regard to another Moldovan property – the Zatoka recreation center – the court of Belgorod-Dnistrovsky district of Ukraine has resumed criminal prosecution, previously terminated by the prosecutor’s office.
