Devoso wins: court fully dismisses UAH 3.9 million claim against our…

• Devoso wins: court fully dismisses UAH 3.9 million claim against our client over two different originals of the same contract
• An interesting case from our practice.

A supplier sued our client for almost UAH 3.9 million. Only UAH 370,000 of that was the value of goods the client had allegedly failed to collect. The rest, over UAH 3.5 million, was a penalty of 30% of the value of the goods not accepted.

The supplier calculated the penalty under the contract. Once the case reached court, however, it emerged that the parties held different originals of the same contract, both signed. Only the supplier’s copy contained the penalty clause; our client’s copy did not.

So who was right? The court’s answer was simple: if the parties did not sign every page and did not agree which version prevails, a term that differs between the copies is deemed not agreed.

In other words, nobody actually agreed the penalty, and the fact that the supplier kept its own copy does not make that copy “more valid”. It was for the supplier to prove that its version applied, and it failed to do so.

The supplier’s other evidence did not help either. A tax invoice alone does not prove that the goods were actually delivered. Screenshots of messaging app chats did not show that they concerned this particular contract. A postal receipt without an inventory of contents does not prove that the envelope contained the document the claimant relied on.

In the end, the court dismissed the claim in full. The decision may still be appealed.

Decision

Have a question? Write to us: office@devoso.info