Originally from Attachment of Assets

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The procedure for obtaining attachment of assets in Ukraine is set forth in the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine No. 1618-IV, dated 18 March 2004, (the “CivPC”) and the Commercial Procedure Code of Ukraine No. 1798-XII, dated 6 November 1991, (the “ComPC”, the CivPC and the ComPC together – the “Procedural Codes”). By way of general background, the ComPC governs the proceedings before commercial courts, where both disputing parties are legal entities or individual entrepreneurs and the dispute is related to commercial activity. The CivPC applies to the proceedings before the general courts, which involve natural persons. As a part of ongoing judicial reform, both CivPC and ComPC were significantly changed in 2017. The provisions pertaining to the attachment of assets in both the CivPC and the ComPC are now largely similar.

Of practical importance are also specific court recommendations and explanations, such as Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Ukraine No. 9 “On practice of application of civil procedure legislation by courts considering applications for security for claim”, dated 22 December 2006, (the “Resolution No. 9”) and Resolution of the Plenum of the Higher Commercial Court of Ukraine No. 16 “On some issues relating to the practice of application of security for claim”, dated 26 December 2011 (the “Resolution No. 16”), as amended from time to time. The above court clarifications, albeit not mandatory, contain important guidelines as to interpretation of Ukrainian legislation and are usually followed by the lower courts.

The out-of-court rules on enforcing the attachment of assets awarded by a court are also governed by the Law of Ukraine No. 1404-VIII “On Enforcement Proceedings”, dated 2 June 2016 (the “Enforcement Proceedings Act”) as well as by Instruction “On organisation of enforcement of judgments” as approved by Order of the Ministry of Justice No. 512/5, dated 2 April 2012 (the “Instruction No. 512/5”).