Point of law: the legal nature of the single payment for the use of mineral resources and the possibility of its reimbursement to the minerals developer.

Alternative attitudes: 1) the license agreement under which the single payment is made is not a civil law contract; this payment is a fee for granting the privilege to develop mineral resources and therefore may not be reimbursed to minerals developer if the use of mineral resources has been terminated by his fault; or 2) the payment of such fee is an obligation of the licensee under the license that is already existent; consequently, it may not be regarded as his expense for acquisition of the license; the payment must be reimbursed regardless of the ground for termination of license in proportion to the period of actual use of mineral resources.

Ratio decidendi: the first approach is legally correct, and the single payment may not be reimbursed.

Practical consequеnces: the Judgment says that prior court decisions in analogous cases if inconsistent with this interpretation may be reversed in the procedure and within the limits envisaged by Art 311 of the Commercial Procedure Code.