Over 488 million hryvnias — that is the sum an adjacent gas extraction company attempted to recover from ESQUIRES’ client, basing its claims on the alleged existence of a positive natural gas imbalance.
At the heart of the dispute lay not the question of arithmetic, but a far more complex matter: the correct application of specialized legislation governing natural gas transportation.
The first-instance court had erroneously equated the procedure for determining the magnitude of used capacity with the procedure for determining the volumes of daily imbalances, granting the multi-million claim.
A Comprehensive Strategy on Appeal
The ESQUIRES team joined the case at the appellate stage. Before the court, our team demonstrated that:
- Distinct Mechanisms: Determining used capacity and daily imbalances are separate components of the natural gas transportation service and cannot be applied interchangeably.
- Incompleteness of Calculation: An imbalance cannot be determined solely based on entry-point data; it must account for all injections, withdrawals, and trade notifications.
- Evidentiary Discrepancy: The claimant’s documents confirmed only the use of capacity, not a positive imbalance in the claimed amount.
- Absence of Preclusive Effect: Prior findings regarding excess capacity do not automatically apply to daily imbalance disputes.
The Result & Strategic Significance
The appellate court fully upheld ESQUIRES’ legal position. Beyond defending our client against an unfounded UAH 488M+ liability, this victory holds strategic importance for the entire Ukrainian natural gas market.
This ruling effectively blocks a destructive practice where primary documents meant for one component of gas transportation could automatically trigger multi-million claims under another. It affirms the principle of legal certainty and protects bona fide businesses from artificially generated debts.
Congratulations to ESQUIRES counsel Vitalii Izviekov, who managed the project and brilliantly defended the client’s interests!