The court ordered the corporation to pay UAH 200 million in damages for an accident 12 years ago

The Voroshilovsky District Court of Donetsk ruled to recover from the Industrial Union of Donbass (IUD) corporation UAH 200 million in moral damages caused as a result of a traffic accident. It happened back in 2000 due to the fault of a corporation driver. As a result of the accident, a five-year-old child died, and his grandmother filed a lawsuit against ISD. At the same time, according to lawyers, it will be difficult for the plaintiff to receive this amount - until now in our country it was possible to recover no more than 10 thousand UAH for causing moral damage.

A civil lawsuit against the Industrial Union of Donbass corporation for compensation for moral damage in the amount of UAH 200 million was filed by Donetsk resident Lyudmila Mikitina. The reason for this was a traffic accident that happened on May 17, 2000 in Donetsk, as a result of which the plaintiff’s daughter was injured and her five-year-old granddaughter died. As explained in the court decision, “a Lexus 470 car, owned by the Industrial Union of Donbass corporation, moving in reverse, drove onto the sidewalk in front of the arch of the house at 156 Gorky Street “and hit the victim and her minor daughter.”

ISD is a holding company founded in 1995 and owning stakes in enterprises of the mining and metallurgical complex. It includes the Alchevsk Metallurgical Plant, the Dnieper Metallurgical Plant named after. Dzerzhinsky, Dunaferr Iron and Steel Works (Hungary) and ISD Huta Czestochowa (Poland). In 2010, 50%+2 shares of the corporation came under the control of a group of investors from Russia. The owners of the remaining 49.99% of the shares are Sergei Taruta and Oleg Mkrtchan.

The amount of compensation of 200 million UAH for damage caused as a result of an accident is one of the largest in the history of Ukraine

Police officers opened a criminal case against the Lexus driver, an employee of the ISD corporation. Proceedings were opened under Part 2 of Art. 215 of the Criminal Code (“violation of traffic safety rules by persons driving vehicles, which led to the death of the victim”; provides for imprisonment for up to 10 years with deprivation of the right to drive vehicles for up to 5 years). The criminal case was closed on September 13, 2000 in connection with the Amnesty Law passed in May of the same year. At the same time, in December 2002, Lyudmila Mikitina filed a claim against the ISD corporation for compensation for moral damage. The case was considered for 10 years, but in the end the Voroshilovsky District Court of Donetsk sided with Ms. Mikitina, satisfied her claim in full and decided to recover UAH 200 million from the ISD corporation. “As a result of the unlawful actions of the defendant, the plaintiff suffered moral damage, which was expressed in mental suffering; disruption of the usual way of life caused by the death of his granddaughter, illness of his daughter; loss of the opportunity to communicate with friends and acquaintances, to live a full life,” the court decision explains.

“I haven’t seen the court decision yet, but I think it’s quite fair,” Lyudmila Mikitina told Kommersant yesterday. Representatives of the ISD did not comment on the situation yesterday. It should be noted that the amount of compensation of UAH 200 million for damage caused as a result of an accident is one of the largest in the history of Ukraine. At the same time, according to experts, ISD will try to appeal the court’s decision, so it will be difficult for Ms. Mikitina to receive the full amount. “In Western countries, in the event of the death of a victim, the amount of compensation is calculated based on how much he could have earned during his life. However, in Ukraine, the practice of paying for moral damages does not exceed 10 thousand UAH. How realistic it will be for the plaintiff to receive compensation depends on many factors For example, whether there is money in the defendant’s accounts, whether the brake system in the car was working at the time of the accident. In this case, responsibility can be distributed between the owner company, the driver and the car manufacturer,” Oleg Malsky, a partner at AstapovLawyers, explained to Kommersant.

Yulia Ryabchun

ISD got into an accident