OREANDA-NEWS. December 3, 2010. The General Prosecutor’s Office (GPO) initiates termination of the Cooperation agreement between Regal Petroleum plc, an onshore explorer for oil and natural gas in Ukraine, and the Ukrainian Environmental Protection Ministry, as reported by UkraNwes on Dec 2. The GPO is going to file the relevant lawsuit to vitiate the Environmental Protection Ministry’s act issued on Mar 30, 2010, which suspends the licenses to mine the Mekhedovsko-Golotovschinske (MEX-GOL) and Svyrydivske (SV) gas condensate deposits in the Poltava region. In addition, on Dec 1 the Kyiv Administrative Appeal Court upheld the ruling by the Kyiv District Administrative Court (Oct 11), which refused to invalidate the Environmental Protection Ministry's decision to cancel Regal's license.

Millennium Capital considers the news as NEGATIVE for the company. The court battle over these licenses dating back to 2005 has escalated after the rotation of Government in Ukraine. The lawsuits had a negative impact on investors’ views of Regal strategy in Ukraine resulting in a significant decline of the stock over the previous month. Currently, Regal has reported receiving takeover offers due to problems with its licenses.