FAQ Commercial Law

Penalties are commercial sanctions in the form of a sum of money (penalty, fine, penalty), which the participant of commercial relations is obliged to pay in case of violation of the rules of economic activity, non-performance or improper performance of economic obligations.
In addition, in case of overdue monetary obligation, at the request of the creditor, the debtor is obliged to pay the amount of debt taking into account the established inflation index for the entire period of delay, as well as three percent per annum of the overdue amount, unless otherwise provided by contract or law .
In the event of a breach of commercial obligation in which at least one party is a business entity belonging to the public sector of the economy, or a breach related to the performance of a state contract, or the performance of the obligation is financed from the State Budget of Ukraine or at the expense of the state credit, penalties are applied, unless otherwise provided by law or contract, in the following amounts:
- for violation of the terms of the obligation regarding the quality (completeness) of goods (works, services) a fine of 20 % of the value of low-quality (incomplete) goods (works, services) is levied;
- for violation of the obligations is imposed a penalty of 0.1 % of the value of goods (works, services), of which overdue for each day of delay, and for overdue for more than thirty days a penalty of 7% of the specified value.
If the amount of penalties is not specified by law, the sanctions are applied in the amount provided by the contract. In this case, the amount of sanctions may be set by the contract as a percentage of the amount of the unfulfilled part of the obligation or in a certain amount, or as a percentage of the amount of the obligation regardless of the degree of its fulfillment, or in multiples of the cost of goods (works , services).

Accrual of penalties in case of delay in fulfillment of obligations is terminated after 6 months from the day when the obligation was to be fulfilled, unless otherwise provided by law or contract (Part 6 of Article 232 of the Civil Code of Ukraine). For claims for the recovery of a penalty (fine, penalty) set a statute of limitations of one year (paragraph 1 of Part 2 of Article 258 of the Civil Code).

A participant in commercial relations who has violated commercial obligation or established requirements for carrying out economic activity must reimburse the damage caused by the entity whose rights or legitimate interests have been violated.
Losses are expenses incurred by the entitled party, loss or damage to its property, as well as income not received by it, which the entitled party would receive in the event of proper performance of the obligation or compliance with the rules of economic activity by the other party.
The damages reimbursed by the person who committed the economic offense include:
the value of lost, damaged or destroyed property, determined in accordance with the requirements of the legislation; additional costs (penalties paid to other entities, the cost of additional work, additional materials spent, etc.) incurred by the party who suffered losses as a result of breach of obligation by the other party;
unearned profit (lost profit), on which the party that suffered losses had the right to expect in the event of proper performance of the obligation by the other party;
material compensation for non-pecuniary damage in cases provided by law.