{"id":3395,"date":"2026-07-03T13:32:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T10:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svaroglaw.com\/?page_id=3395"},"modified":"2026-09-14T14:26:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T11:26:15","slug":"dosudove-vreguliuvannia-sporiv","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/svaroglaw.com\/en\/gospodarskyj-spir\/dosudove-vreguliuvannia-sporiv\/","title":{"rendered":"Pre-litigation settlement of commercial disputes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pre-action settlement of commercial disputes means resolving a conflict between businesses without going to court: through a formal demand, negotiations or mediation. Article 19 of the Commercial Procedure Code provides that the parties take steps to settle a dispute before trial either by agreement between themselves or where such steps are required by law.<\/p>\n

On 28 August 2025 the Commercial Code of Ukraine ceased to have effect (Law No. 4196-IX), and with it Article 222, which used to set out what a demand must contain and the one-month period for answering it. The demand procedure now rests on two supports: the terms of your contract and the general rules of the Civil Code on performance of obligations. The law no longer prescribes the contents of a demand, so its requirements are set by business practice and by how a court will assess it.<\/p>\n

For business, a formal demand remains the fastest and cheapest way to recover money: it costs a fraction of litigation and does not damage the relationship where the counterparty is willing to pay.<\/p>\n

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What changed when the Commercial Code was repealed<\/h2>\n
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There is no longer a one-month period to reply<\/h3>

It used to follow from Art. 222 of the Commercial Code. Now the period for answering a demand is set by the contract, and if the contract is silent, Art. 530 of the Civil Code applies: where no time for performance is fixed, the debtor must perform within seven days<\/strong> of the demand being made. That is the period we state in the demand, citing the provision.<\/p><\/div><\/article>

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There is no mandatory list of required details<\/h3>

But the requirements for a demand as evidence have not gone anywhere: the court has to see exactly what you demanded, when and on what basis, and that the counterparty received it.<\/p><\/div><\/article>

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Special carriage deadlines are now found in sector legislation<\/h3>

Article 315 of the Commercial Code on three- and six-month demand periods is also gone, so for rail, road and sea carriage we apply the relevant charters and special laws \u2014 contract by contract.<\/p><\/div><\/article>

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Contracts concluded before 28 August 2025 remain in force<\/h3>

The only issue is that references to Commercial Code articles in their texts are now empty, and in the demand we replace them with the applicable Civil Code provisions and the contract\u2019s own terms.<\/p><\/div><\/article><\/div>\n

What a demand must contain<\/h2>\n

For a demand to work both as leverage and as evidence, it states:<\/p>\n

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Essential elements<\/h3>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t