The Social Protection Department of the Kherson Region won a court ruling against JSC "Ukrposhta" for 964,292 hryvnias and 27 kopecks in arrears under a contract for the delivery of social benefits. The postal operator failed to provide the required supporting documents regarding the payment or refund of financial assistance to residents of the district for the period from January through June 2022.
This is stated in the decision of the Kyiv Commercial Court.
According to the case file, on February 1, 2022, the Social Protection Department of the Kakhovka District State Administration and JSC“Ukrposhta” entered into a contract for the provision of services related to the payment and delivery of state financial assistance to residents of the district.
Between January and June 2022, 33.68 million hryvnias in budget funds were transferred to the postal operator’s accounts. According to the reported data, 24.16 million UAH was actually paid out to the final recipients, while “Ukrposhta” returned 8.41 million UAH to the Department as unused funds.
However, following a final reconciliation between the parties, an unresolved amount of 964,292.27 UAH remained, for which the national operator failed to provide documents confirming either the payment to the civilian population or the return of the balance to the budget account.
During the court hearing, representatives of JSC “Ukrposhta” contested the claims, citing force majeure circumstances—military hostilities, the occupation of the Kakhovka district, the destruction of property, and the loss of source documentation. The defendant provided partially reconstructed information, as well as cash reports and data from internal electronic systems.
However, in the court’s opinion, the information provided did not meet the requirements for primary accounting documents. In particular, the documents lacked the signatures of the recipients, as well as the signatures and stamps of the supervising officials. The documents also contained corrections and contradictory information. There were instances where payments were allegedly made to individuals who had died before the specified date of disbursement.
The court also took into account the position of “Ukrposhta,” which stated its readiness to pay the funds to citizens if they applied in person. In the court’s view, this further confirms that the fact of payment of the disputed amount to the recipients during the period from January to June 2022 has not yet been proven.
The court’s decision may be appealed within 20 days of the date the full text of the decision is issued.
Юлія Калабайда