INTEGRITES protected interests of the German equipment manufacturer in a dispute with SE NNEGC Energoatom

12.03.2021

INTEGRITES Domestic Litigation team assisted the German equipment manufacturer to recover losses caused by the long-term non-repayment of the debt by one of Ukraine’s largest energy generating state-owned enterprises – NNEGC Energoatom.

In 2000s the German manufacturer applied to the state enforcement service to collect UAH 6 mln debt from Energoatom for the special equipment supplied for the SSE Chornobyl NPP. The enforcement officer closed the proceedings in 2007, the reason being the allegedly fulfilled debtor’s obligations. However, with the forged documents the payment had been transferred to a third party, not to the German equipment supplier.

Even though 14 years have passed since the enforcement proceedings were closed, INTEGRITES managed to prove in the Supreme Court the necessity to renew the deadline for appealing the enforcement officer’s decision to close the proceedings. INTEGRITES lawyers also proved that the client couldn’t have appealed the decision of the executor earlier than 2020, due to the lack of evidence and the inability to collect it independently.

Despite the significantly delayed payment and the closed enforcement proceedings, the German company proved in court the Energoatom’s debt and successfully recovered inflation-related losses, as well as 3% annual interest rate of the overdue debt. The amount to be recovered in addition to the principal debt is UAH 6 mln.

INTEGRITES team working on the project included Partner and Head of Domestic Litigation Oleksandr Onishchenko, Senior Associate Anton Kaganets and Junior Associate Volodymyr Paliichuk.