Additional Resolution of the Supreme Court of Ukraine in case 824/84/25 dated 17 September 2026

RESOLUTION

IN THE NAME OF UKRAINE

(additional)

17 September 2026, Kyiv, case No. 824/84/25, proceeding No. 61-15157av25

The Supreme Court, sitting as a panel of judges of the Second Judicial Chamber of the Civil Cassation Court: V. M. Korotun (judge-rapporteur), I. A. Vorobiova, M. Ye. Chervynska, participants in the case:

applicant (judgment creditor): UAB "Axis Industries"; debtor: Lviv Municipal Utility Enterprise "Lvivteploenerho",

having considered by way of written proceedings without notification of the participants in the case the application of attorney Maksym Mykolaiovych Cherednichenko, acting on behalf of UAB "Axis Industries", for the adoption of an additional decision on the application of the representative of UAB "Axis Industries", Maksym Mykolaiovych Cherednichenko, for recognition and grant of leave to enforce the award of the International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry of 14 July 2025 in case No. 413/2024 on the claim of UAB "Axis Industries" against Lviv Municipal Utility Enterprise "Lvivteploenerho" for recognition as concluded of supplementary agreements No. 9 and No. 11 to the contract of 27 July 2017 No. LDHP-A.3 in the wording set out in the statement of claim, recovery from Lviv Municipal Utility Enterprise "Lvivteploenerho" (Ukraine) of EUR 1,394,489.58, as well as legal aid costs in the amount of EUR 31,889.79 and the costs of paying the arbitration fee for consideration of the claim at the International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry,

FOUND:

On 5 August 2025, the Kyiv Court of Appeal received the application of UAB "Axis Industries" for the issuance of a writ of execution for the compulsory enforcement of the award of the International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry of 14 July 2025, rendered by the arbitral tribunal composed of presiding arbitrator Tetiana Slipachuk and arbitrators Mykola Selivon and Serhii Hryshko in case No. 413/2024 on the claim of Closed Joint-Stock Company "Axis Industries" against Lviv Municipal Utility Enterprise "Lvivteploenerho" (hereinafter, ME "Lvivteploenerho") for recognition as concluded of supplementary agreements No. 9 and No. 11 to contract No. LDHP-A.3 of 27 July 2017 in the wording set out in the statement of claim, recovery from Lviv Municipal Utility Enterprise "Lvivteploenerho" (Ukraine) of EUR 1,394,489.58, as well as legal aid costs in the amount of EUR 31,889.79 and the costs of paying the arbitration fee for consideration of the claim at the International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

By the ruling of the Kyiv Court of Appeal of 11 November 2025, the application of the representative of UAB "Axis Industries", M. M. Cherednichenko, was granted.

A writ of execution was issued for the compulsory enforcement of the award of the international commercial arbitration of 14 July 2025 in case No. 413/2024 on the recovery from ME "Lvivteploenerho" in favour of UAB "Axis Industries" of funds in the following amounts: EUR 111,322.07 in damages caused by the respondent's change of design solutions; EUR 1,710.43 in costs of paying the arbitration fee; in total, EUR 113,032.50.

ME "Lvivteploenerho" was ordered to pay UAB "Axis Industries" legal aid costs in the amount of EUR 1,000.00.

ME "Lvivteploenerho" was ordered to pay UAB "Axis Industries" UAH 1,211.20 in court fee paid for filing the application for recognition and grant of leave to compulsorily enforce the award of international commercial arbitration.

On 2 December 2025, ME "Lvivteploenerho" filed with the Supreme Court an appeal against the ruling of the Kyiv Court of Appeal of 11 November 2025, in which, citing the court's incorrect application of substantive law and violation of procedural law, it requests that the challenged court decision be set aside and a new decision be adopted refusing the application in full.

On 12 December 2025, the representative of UAB "Axis Industries", M. M. Cherednichenko, filed with the Supreme Court an appeal against the ruling of the Kyiv Court of Appeal of 11 November 2025, in which, citing the court's incorrect application of substantive law and violation of procedural law, he requests that the ruling of the court of appeal be modified in the part refusing recovery of professional legal aid costs, and that the ruling otherwise be upheld.

On 5 January 2026, the representative of UAB "Axis Industries", M. M. Cherednichenko, filed a response to the appeal, in which he requested that it be dismissed and that the court decision in the part challenged by the respondent be upheld as having been adopted in compliance with substantive and procedural law, and that the court costs related to the appellate proceedings be recovered from the respondent.

By the resolution of the Supreme Court of 30 July 2026, the appeals of ME "Lvivteploenerho" and of the representative of UAB "Axis Industries", M. M. Cherednichenko, were dismissed. The ruling of the Kyiv Court of Appeal of 11 November 2025 was upheld.

On 3 August 2026, an application was received through the "Electronic Court" subsystem from the representative of UAB "Axis Industries", attorney M. M. Cherednichenko, for the adoption of an additional decision and recovery from ME "Lvivteploenerho" in favour of UAB "Axis Industries" of professional legal aid costs in the amount of EUR 1,500.00 incurred in connection with the appellate review of this case by the Supreme Court.

Pursuant to Article 270(3) of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine, the court that adopted the decision adopts an additional court decision in the same composition within ten days from the date of receipt of the relevant application. An additional court decision is adopted in the same manner as the court decision, and where the court decides only the issue of court costs, without notification of the participants in the case..

Pursuant to subparagraphs "b" and "c" of paragraph 4 of Article 382(1) of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine, the operative part of a resolution of the court of appeal consists, among other things, of a new allocation of the court costs incurred in connection with the consideration of the case in the court of first instance, in the event of the setting aside or modification of the court decision, as well as of the allocation of the court costs incurred in connection with the review of the case in the court of appeal.

Costs related to the consideration of the case include, among other things, the costs of professional legal aid (paragraph 3 of Article 133(1) of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine).

Article 141(8) of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine provides that the amount of costs that a party has paid or is to pay in connection with the consideration of the case is established by the court on the basis of the evidence submitted by the parties (contracts, invoices, etc.). Such evidence is submitted before the end of the court debates in the case or within five days after the adoption of the court decision, provided that the party made a corresponding statement to that effect before the end of the court debates in the case.

If the relevant evidence is not submitted within the established time limit, such application is left without consideration.

Article 137(2) of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine provides that, following the consideration of the case, the costs of an attorney's legal aid are subject to allocation between the parties together with other court costs. For the purposes of allocating court costs: 1) the amount of the costs of an attorney's legal aid, including the attorney's fee for representation in court and other legal aid related to the case, including preparation for its consideration, collection of evidence, etc., as well as the cost of the services of an attorney's assistant, is determined in accordance with the terms of the legal aid agreement and on the basis of the relevant evidence regarding the volume of services rendered and work performed and their cost, paid or payable by the relevant party or a third party; 2) the amount payable by way of compensation for the attorney's expenses necessary for the provision of legal aid is established in accordance with the terms of the legal aid agreement on the basis of the relevant evidence confirming that such expenses were incurred.

The resolution of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court of 27 June 2018 in case No. 826/1216/16 (proceeding No. 11-562as18) states that "the composition and amount of the costs related to payment for legal aid form part of the subject matter of proof in the case. To confirm these circumstances, the court must be provided with the legal aid agreement (agency agreement, agreement for the provision of legal services, etc.) and documents evidencing payment of the fee and other expenses related to the provision of legal aid, executed in the manner prescribed by law (receipt for a cash receipt order, payment order bearing a bank stamp or other bank document, cash register receipts, travel certificates). The said costs must be documented and proven. The absence of documentary confirmation of legal aid costs, as well as of a calculation of such costs, is a ground for refusing claims for reimbursement of such costs".

Therefore, the composition and amount of the costs related to payment for legal aid form part of the subject matter of proof in the case.

Parts four to six of Article 137 of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine provide that the amount of the costs of paying for an attorney's services must be commensurate with: the complexity of the case and of the work performed (services rendered) by the attorney; the time spent by the attorney on performing the relevant work (rendering services); the volume of services rendered and work performed by the attorney; the value of the claim and (or) the significance of the case for the party, including the impact of the resolution of the case on the party's reputation or public interest in the case. In the event of non-compliance with the requirements of part four of this Article, the court may, upon a motion of the other party, reduce the amount of legal aid costs subject to allocation between the parties. The burden of proving that the costs are not commensurate lies with the party filing the motion to reduce the costs of paying for an attorney's legal aid subject to allocation between the parties.

Article 12(3) and Article 81(1) of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine provide that each party must prove the circumstances that are relevant to the case and on which it relies as the basis of its claims or objections.

Pursuant to Article 263(4) of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine, when selecting and applying a rule of law to the disputed legal relationship, the court takes into account the conclusions on the application of the relevant rules of law set out in the resolutions of the Supreme Court.

Paragraphs 34-47 of the additional resolution of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court of 19 February 2020 in case No. 755/9215/15-ts (proceeding No. 14-382tss19) state that the burden of proving that the costs are not commensurate lies with the party filing the motion to reduce the costs of paying for an attorney's legal aid subject to allocation between the parties.

In addition, the resolution of the Supreme Court of 20 January 2021 in case No. 750/2055/20 (proceeding No. 61-16723sv20) states that it is the interested party that must take certain actions aimed at recovering professional legal aid costs from the other party, and the other party has the right to raise corresponding objections to such claims, which precludes the court's own initiative regarding reimbursement of professional legal aid costs to one of the parties without corresponding actions on the part of that party. The adversarial principle is embodied, in particular, in the provisions of parts five and six of Article 137 of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine, according to which it is the other party that bears the burden of substantiating the existence of grounds for reducing the amount of legal aid costs subject to allocation between the parties, as well as the burden of proving that they are not commensurate.

The foregoing is consistent with the legal conclusions set out in the resolutions of the Supreme Court of 25 May 2021 in case No. 465/3458/15-ts (proceeding No. 61-19582sv20) and of 9 November 2021 in case No. 759/14346/16 (proceeding No. 61-12783sv21).

Thus, in support of the amount of professional legal aid costs incurred by UAB "Axis Industries" in connection with the appellate review of this case by the Supreme Court, its representative, attorney M. M. Cherednichenko, submitted copies of:

- supplementary agreement No. 3 of 5 January 2026 to legal aid (legal services) agreement No. 04/10/2023 between UAB "Axis Industries" and the Attorneys' Association "Slovo i Zakon" (hereinafter, AA "Slovo i Zakon");

- evidence of payment of funds under legal aid agreement No. 04/10/2023 of 4 October 2023;

- act No. 12 of 30 July 2026 on services rendered under legal aid agreement No. 04/10/2023 of 4 October 2023;

Act No. 12 of 30 July 2026 states that AA "Slovo i Zakon" rendered the following services to UAB "Axis Industries" in the amount of EUR 1,500.00:

- preparation and filing of a response to the appeal of ME "Lvivteploenerho" against the ruling of the Kyiv Court of Appeal of 11 November 2025, as well as handling of the case before the Supreme Court as the court of appeal in case No. 824/84/25: EUR 1,500.00.

In its resolution of 19 February 2020 in case No. 755/9215/15-ts (proceeding No. 14-382tss19), the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court also stated that the analysis of Article 141(3) of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine makes it possible to identify the following criteria for determining and allocating court costs: 1) their reality; 2) necessity;

3) the reasonableness of their amount, taking into account the complexity of the case and the financial situation of the participants in the case. With the introduction of amendments to the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine as of 15 December 2017, the legislator defined in a fundamentally new way the role of the court in claim proceedings, namely as an arbiter that assesses the evidence and arguments put forward by the parties to the case and cannot act in favour of either party, which would not be consistent with the basic principles of civil procedure. The adversarial principle is embodied, in particular, in the provisions of parts five and six of Article 137 of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine, according to which it is the other party that bears the burden of substantiating the existence of grounds for reducing the amount of legal aid costs subject to allocation between the parties, as well as the burden of proving that they are not commensurate.

Therefore, when deciding on the recovery of professional legal aid costs, the court should assess only those circumstances to which the other party objects. Accordingly, when deciding on the allocation of court costs, the court must take into account the specific circumstances of the case, the general principles of civil law and the criteria for reimbursement of professional legal aid costs.

The additional resolution of the Joint Chamber of the Commercial Cassation Court within the Supreme Court of 18 February 2022 in case No. 925/1545/20 states that, in order to decide on the allocation of court costs, the court must take into account: the complexity of the case and of the work performed (services rendered) by the attorney; the time spent by the attorney on performing the relevant work (rendering services); the volume of services rendered and work performed by the attorney; the connection of these costs with the consideration of the case; the reasonableness and proportionality to the subject matter of the dispute; the value of the claim and the significance of the case for the parties; the impact of the outcome of its resolution on the parties' reputation and the public interest in the case; the conduct of the party during the consideration of the case (abuse of procedural rights by the party or its representative, etc.); and the party's actions regarding pre-trial settlement of the case and amicable settlement of the dispute.

The additional resolution of the Supreme Court of 8 September 2021 in case No. 206/6537/19 (proceeding No. 61-5486sv21) states that, notwithstanding the will of the parties to the agreement to determine the amount of the attorney's fee, the court is not deprived of the right to assess the claimed cost of legal aid on the basis of the criteria of commensurability set out in Article 137(4) of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine.

In addition, pursuant to paragraph 6 of Article 3(1) of the Civil Code of Ukraine, the general principles of civil law include, in particular, fairness, good faith and reasonableness.

The Supreme Court, having regard to the nature of the work performed by the attorneys of AA "Slovo i Zakon", in view of the fact that ME "Lvivteploenerho" did not file objections as to the commensurability and reasonableness of the court costs, and proceeding from the specific circumstances of this case, its complexity and the work performed by the attorney, considers it necessary to recover the professional legal aid costs incurred by AA "Slovo - Zakon" before the Supreme Court in the amount of EUR 1,500.00.

Guided by Articles 141, 270, 381-384 of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine, the Supreme Court, sitting as a panel of judges of the Second Judicial Chamber of the Civil Cassation Court,

RESOLVED:

The application of attorney Maksym Mykolaiovych Cherednichenko, acting on behalf of UAB "Axis Industries", for the adoption of an additional decision shall be granted.

To recover from Lviv Municipal Utility Enterprise "Lvivteploenerho" in favour of UAB "Axis Industries" the costs of professional legal aid incurred in the court of appeal in the amount of EUR 1,500.

The additional resolution enters into legal force from the moment of its adoption, is final and is not subject to appeal.

Judges: |V. M. Korotun I. A. Vorobiova M. Ye. Chervynska|