This is exactly what's happening now to companies that haven't left the ATO zone. The Head of the Supreme Commercial Court of Ukraine, B. Lvov, has promoted a scheme to have court proceedings conducted without their participation. Companies that haven't left the ATO zone, aren't operating, and are summoned to court... through the court's website! Yes, yes. And thus, they are deprived of property and assets because they don't even know the court hearings are taking place. Or they know, but can't get a pass. And the courts don't take such "circumstances" into account. They've been given the order, "OK." Who profits from this? Large companies. In construction, these are contractors and general contractors who, instead of construction equipment, have 60 pairs of lace panties and two suitcases full of ties. And they left with them. You can rip others off anywhere.
Here, for those unfamiliar, it's important to explain the balance of power, for example, in the construction industry, although it's roughly the same everywhere. Subcontractors are companies that actually perform the work, have the equipment, and specialize in a particular type of work. It's these companies, grouped by type of work, that contractors and general contractors use when ordering work. I'm talking about large state and municipal contracts. Although, the same applies to large investors. Then they screw the subcontractors, making a fortune for themselves (we're not talking millions here, because on average, each contractor gets screwed out of a million or so on a large order). In Donetsk, these firms are well-known because they're small in number but rude. Other regions have their own heroes, just like them. But here, it was the firms from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that found themselves in the crosshairs. It was simply a good opportunity for government officials to reach an agreement with the large firms, screw them over, and divide them up. They chose the simplest method: they reached an agreement with the Supreme Commercial Court of Ukraine. The chapter published the “Information sheet about changes and additions to the information sheet of the VSSU dated September 12, 2014 No. 01-06/1290/14 “About the Law of Ukraine “On economic justice and criminal prosecution” connection with the conduct of the ATO” (Information sheet of the VSSU dated 01.12.2014 No. 01-06/2052/14)”, in which judges are stupidly recommended to break the law.
The fact is that, according to Article 64 of the Civil Procedure Code, a claim can only be accepted for proceedings and a hearing scheduled after all parties have been duly notified by mail. In the ATO zone, as is well known, the post office does not operate. The law does not prescribe a court procedure if the post office cannot notify the defendant, for example, of a hearing. But generally, the court has no right to initiate proceedings in these cases, because commercial procedural law stipulates that a claim can only be accepted upon proper notification, with a copy of it and all attachments served on the defendant and the parties. And in the ATO zone, a copy cannot be served because the post office does not operate. This is from a formal standpoint. Not to mention that entrepreneurs in the ATO zone may simply not have enough money for travel or be unable to obtain a pass because they lacked the funds for a bribe (companies are closed). Some have lost or stolen documents. Generally, one must wait until the ATO is over, restore order, and only then summon the defendant to court. But business ties have decided otherwise. Lost assets in the ATO zone aren't a problem for them, because they don't have any assets as such: they're either leased or rented property. But fleecing their contractors is a sacred thing.
And here, the head of the Supreme Commercial Court, B. Lvov, came to the aid of business ties. In the aforementioned information sheet, he draws the judges' attention to the following: in paragraph 6, B. Lvov states that a party to a proceeding located in the ATO zone is considered duly notified of a court hearing, the opening of proceedings, etc., if they received a call from the court or if the information was posted on the court's website "in the "News and Proceedings of the Court" section of the official web portal "Court Authority in Ukraine" online (www.court.gov.ua/sudy/)." So, whether a person answered the phone or not, the secretary notes in the log that they called, and the company is considered notified. Even better, while in a combat zone, is to see and read the court's website and see if your company has been mentioned or if anyone has filed a lawsuit against you. And this is despite the fact that the judges themselves are not authorized to accept any cases involving defendants from the ATO zone, because the plaintiff was unable to properly notify them, and without this, the claim cannot be accepted. And you should read the website of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast Commercial Court! Don't be lazy. In half the cases, the defendant is unable to obtain a pass, etc. This is due to the defendants' ignorance. They shouldn't have received a pass, because the notification method was illegal.
I'm not even talking about the moral aspect. We need to finish off those who have found themselves in an impossible situation and are awaiting liberation, state order, and so on. I'm talking about those in the ATO zone. Donetsk residents understand perfectly well that the region was abandoned, then they came to their senses, but it was too late. Now they are making an impossible effort to restore order to Donetsk land. And, taking advantage of this helplessness of the people in the occupied territory, they are robbed by businessmen and the courts of their own country. Of course, there's war. Of course, in war there is robbery from all sides. But what is the vaunted Prosecutor General's Office doing, which, now completely lustrated (having lost some truly good specialists), is vigilant about the rule of law in the country? After this publication, the Prosecutor General's Office should open a criminal case against the head of the Supreme Commercial Court of Ukraine, B. Lvov, for abuse of power. Simply because the Head of the Supreme Specialized Court is calling on judges to act in a manner unforeseen by law and states in an information sheet that if these entrepreneurs object to the lack of notice and appeal to the Supreme Specialized Court, the ruling in their favor should not be overturned. No, it's clearly stated! What should they do?
I remind Mr. Sakvarelidze (Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine) of his complete inaction in response to earlier appeals to him through the media (https://ord-ua.com/2015/04/10/obraschenie-k-zamgenprokurora-davidu-sakvarelidze-po-povodu-deyatelnosti-mininfrastrukturyi-ukrainyi-uglublenie-dna-dnepra-i-platnaya-besplatnaya-trassa-kiev-odessa/?lpage=1,https://ord-ua.com/2015/04/28/ne-obizhajte-ministra-on-sam-sebya-nakazhet-pivovarskij-dal-ocherednoe-intervyu-pod-grobovoe-molchanie-gpu/?lpage=1), the need for the Prosecutor General's Office to include in the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations into the criminal offense committed by the Head of the Supreme Commercial Court of Ukraine, B. Lvov, under Article 365 "Abuse of Authority or Official Powers." I recommend that the Prosecutor General's Office calculate the damages caused by B. Lvov from the summary claims of all companies that were not notified by mail of the initiated proceedings, but on which decisions were made. A ton of work, gentlemen from the Prosecutor General's Office! Just understand that the war will end, and you will be held accountable for your inaction, because people will start slapping you in the face with this letter from B. Lvov and court decisions. And the President will have to do something about it. And they will slap you because the general contractors, who are currently playing the "win the case while the subcontractor doesn't know" game in the courts, will win big, and the subcontractors will find out about it later. There will be a major scandal. There will also be a scandal with the decentralization of Ukravtodor, promised by Infrastructure Minister Pyvovarsky, who calls himself an accomplished figure in interviews with Ukrainian television channels. So, the established figure Pivovarsky promised to transfer some authority and funds to the local authorities of Ukravtodor. This is now called decentralization. Meanwhile, Ukravtodor owes contractors for 2013, 2014, and 2015 for work already completed. The contractors will receive this money, but will not pay the subcontractors. Meanwhile, the established figure Pivovarsky is busy with reforms, not resolving the country's most serious industry conflicts. He's decentralizing Ukravtodor without explaining how the money for completed work will be distributed. He hasn't even created a register of subcontractors to whom his favored general contractors will be obligated to pay. And then he'll be offended that his office, the office of such an established figure, is being picketed by construction workers in Kyiv. They were dumped due to Pivovarsky's complete incompetence for the position he holds, simply because, as minister, he should be addressing issues of supporting small and medium-sized businesses (subcontractors) on a daily basis, and only after ensuring that the construction industry is functioning should he plan mega-projects.
I advise small and medium-sized businesses not to despair. There's a way out. They've gone too far in the race to "rob the ATO while it's still pending." Challenge all the contracts your general contractors wrote off, using ATO certificates for newly discovered ones, or overturn the decisions because you're a third party in the proceedings and weren't even invited to court. And you'll have to prove that you built this much, and the general contractor built this much. This horror will make it easier for the general contractor to pay up than to fight you. And the state, if it's smart, will hide B. Lvov's information letter to the judges and say, "Well, the law says otherwise, so we're doing it according to the law." That's usually what happens.
P.S. For those shouting, "Why didn't you leave?" A law firm or NGO could have packed up and left. A contractor with all his equipment in the ATO zone could have left, but then he'd have nowhere to return to. And he won't be able to work elsewhere (all work must be done locally). Not to mention that those shouting, "Why didn't you leave?" would do well to read "Kholodny Yar" (by Yury Horlis-Gorsky). It very clearly explains why a Ukrainian "fights only for his own home": when an entire unit withdraws from the front and goes to defend his village, which the Red Commissars came to plunder. It's bad, yes. The offensive has been thwarted. But why does a Ukrainian rebel need that war if, while he's fighting elsewhere, his home village is being burned? It's a bit more complicated than simply shouting slogans. It's a centuries-old story. Study, gentlemen shouting.
Natalya Kashkevich “Spilka Budivelniki to Donbass”, for ORD
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