Collected the debt – exempted from penalties for violation of the terms of settlements under the foreign economic activity contract: WinnerLex attorneys defended the interests of the client in international commercial arbitration

The collection of debts from foreign counterparties has acquired a new meaning with the start of large-scale aggression of the russian federation and the introduction of stricter terms for settlements on export-import transactions. Now, going to court or international commercial arbitration with a claim to recover a debt from a foreign counterparty is actually also intended to solve the problem of charging penalties for violation of the terms of settlements under foreign trade contracts.

But it must be emphasized that the penalty for violation of the terms of settlements under foreign economic activity contracts will not be accrued exclusively in the event that the dispute is resolved in favor of the Ukrainian company, that is, only if a court or international arbitration makes a decision on the collection of debt or another decision that will confirm the fact of violation of obligations by a foreign counterparty.

Our client had a business relationship with a company from Belarus, which, after the start of the war and the introduction of the sanctions regime, prevented the receipt of funds for the goods delivered to Belarus. In addition to the actual occurrence of the debt, the question arose of the risk of charging the client a penalty for violation of the terms of settlements for the foreign economic activity contract, which had to be urgently addressed.

The contract between our client and his Belarusian counterparty included an arbitration clause on dispute resolution in the International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. With this in mind, the lawyers of WinnerLex promptly prepared and filed claims for debt collection from the Belarusian company to this institution of international commercial arbitration.

Based on the results of the consideration of the case, which was fully supported by the lawyers of WinnerLex, an international commercial arbitration ruled in favor of our client, a debt in the amount of more than 210 thousand euros was recovered from the Belarusian counterparty.

Also, obtaining a positive decision of the ICAC at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine on the collection of debt freed our client from accruing penalties on this amount for violation of the terms of settlements under the foreign economic activity contract.