Russia ordered to pay US$2m to Ukrainian MP's company for losses in Kherson Oblast

The Commercial Court of Kyiv has ordered the Russian Federation to pay JSC URD Ukrainian Roads, owned by MP Serhii Labaziuk, UAH 83.75 million (approx. US$2.02 million) in material losses for the loss of a mineral powder plant and machinery in Kherson Oblast.

Source: Kyiv’s Commercial Court decision on 16 June 

Details: JSC URD Ukrainian Roads filed a lawsuit against the Russian Federation, represented by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, for UAH 374.93 million (US$9.04 million), including UAH 291.18 million (US$7.02 million) of lost profits.

The court decided that in 2022, after the start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, the company lost its mineral powder plant and 33 vehicles, which were mainly intended for road construction and repair. The losses occurred in Nova Kakhovka and other settlements of Kherson Oblast that were temporarily occupied by Russia. The amount of material losses reached UAH 83.75 million (US$2.02 million).

The court rejected the demand of JSC URD Ukrainian Roads to collect UAH 291.18 million (US$7.02 million) of lost profits from Russia. This concerned unfulfilled state orders regarding the construction, repair of roads and services for their operational maintenance.

The court concluded that the company had failed to support this with evidence and that the amounts provided were hypothetical assumptions of such losses, which were of an abstract nature.

Quote: "In addition, the plaintiff has not proven that the amount of the reports in the form of lost profit could really have been received by him if not for the wrongful actions of the defendant."

For reference: JSC URD Ukrainian Roads (formerly called Khmelnytskyi ShBU No. 56) is registered in the city of Khmelnytskyi. The beneficiary is Serhii Labaziuk.

Labaziuk is an MP of Ukraine of the VII, VIII, and IX convocations, a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy and a member of the temporary special parliamentary commission on investor protection rights. He represents the parliamentary group Party For the Future.

Background: Law enforcement officers suspected Labaziuk and his accomplice of bribing former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Community, Territory and Infrastructure Development Oleksandr Kubrakov and former head of the State Agency for Infrastructure Restoration and Development Mustafa Nayyem.

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