Ukraine sues Russia's Tatneft, managed by Ukraine's Ukrnafta, for petrol debt

The Poltava Oblast Commercial Court has ordered Tatneft-AZS-Ukraine to pay UAH 500,000 (roughly US$12,150) in debt, penalties and fines to the Valky City Council Education Department in Kharkiv Oblast.

Source: a court ruling dated 25 July

Details: On 20 April 2021, the Education Department of the Valky City Council placed an order for petrol and diesel fuel from Tatneft-APS-Ukraine, amounting to UAH 1.19 million (approximately US$28,900).

Subsequently, the parties entered into a series of additional agreements that reduced the quantity of fuel and the contract amount, bringing it down to UAH 987,000 (roughly US$29,900).

The supplier provided the customer with fuel vouchers for this amount, and the Education Department settled the payment.

In July 2022, the department demanded that Tatneft-AZS-Ukraine refund UAH 339,400 (roughly US$8,200) by 20 July 2022.

In response, the private company cited force majeure circumstances resulting from Russia's military aggression against Ukraine and reported that it was temporarily unable to make a refund due to the seizure of its funds.

Tatneft-AZS-Ukraine also noted that the education department needed to hand back the originals of the unsold one-time vouchers worth UAH 339,400, which Valky officials did.

The education department issued another demand for a refund in August 2022. Tatneft-AZS-Ukraine responded by stating that the debt remained unpaid due to the seizure of its funds. The company subsequently filed a request with the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv and the State Bureau of Investigation to partially lift the seizure.

By the end of the year, the company had informed the customer on two additional occasions about its unsuccessful attempts to repay the debt.

The prosecutor's office subsequently filed a lawsuit to recover UAH 339,400 (approximately US$8,250) for the principal debt, UAH 62,400 (about US$1,515) for the penalty, UAH 67,900 (around US$1,650) for the 20% fine, and UAH 23,700 (approximately US$575) for the 7% fine from Tatneft-AZS-Ukraine. The court has upheld the claim.

The Cabinet of Ministers (the Ukrainian government) transferred several assets of the Russian company Tatneft, seized in criminal proceedings, to Ukrnafta, a Ukrainian oil and natural gas extraction company. Among these assets is Tatneft-AZS-Ukraine.

On 20 June 2024, Ukraine's Antimonopoly Committee announced that Ukrnafta had been authorised to assume management of the shares in the authorised capital of Tatneft-AZS-Ukraine (Poltava), as well as Poltava Capital and Kharkiv Capital.

Ukrnafta has inspected the newly acquired assets previously operated by Tatneft and found them to be in poor condition. The vast majority of them are beyond repair or refurbishment.

These are over 110 facilities of various types (petrol stations, oil depots, and other outbuildings).

"Ukrnafta will have to consider each case individually to estimate the required level of investment and the timeframe for their repayment," said Ukrnafta CEO Sergii Koretskyi in June.

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