{"id":2026,"date":"2026-04-03T03:10:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T00:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svaroglaw.com\/kak-vybit-dengi-s-dolzhnika\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T04:43:35","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T01:43:35","slug":"yak-vibiti-groshi-z-borzhnika","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svaroglaw.com\/en\/blog\/yak-vibiti-groshi-z-borzhnika\/","title":{"rendered":"How to recover money from a debtor in 2026: the receipt, the court, enforcement"},"content":{"rendered":"

A debt owed by an individual is recovered by ordinary claim: a court order under Article 161 of the Civil Procedure Code is issued only against a legal entity under a written contract for up to 332,800 UAH. The court fee on an individual\u2019s monetary claim is 1 % of the value, from 1,331.20 to 16,640 UAH, and in the Electronic Court it is multiplied by 0.8. The limitation period is three years.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The limitation period, suspended on 2 April 2020 for the duration of the quarantine and martial law, resumed running on 4 September 2025 under Law No. 4434-IX. For anyone who lent money to an acquaintance before the pandemic and kept putting the case off, this means something simple: the three-year period in Article 257 of the Civil Code is running out again, and delay now costs the right to recover at all.<\/p>\n

In legal terms a loan between individuals is an ordinary contract, governed by Articles 1046\u20131053 of the Civil Code. It needs no notary, is entered in no register, and comes into being the moment the money changes hands. The whole difficulty is evidential: the court looks not at how generously you helped, but at whether the documents you have establish the amount, the date and the person who received the money.<\/p>\n

When a receipt works and when it is not enough<\/h2>\n

Article 1047 of the Civil Code requires written form where the loan exceeds ten tax-free minimum incomes, that is 170 UAH. In practice any real loan falls within that requirement, and the borrower\u2019s receipt is sufficient proof of the contract. It should contain the debtor\u2019s full name and passport or tax number details, the amount in figures and in words, the date the money was handed over, and a signature.<\/p>\n

If the receipt does not say when the money is to be returned, that does not make it invalid. Part one of Article 1049 of the Civil Code gives the debtor thirty days from the date a demand for repayment is made, and it is from the end of those thirty days that limitation starts to run. So the written demand is best sent by registered post with a list of contents: the postal receipt becomes the starting point.<\/p>\n

The hardest situation is money handed over with no paper at all. Then indirect evidence has to be assembled: a bank statement showing the transfer with its payment reference, messenger correspondence, an audio recording of a conversation, witness statements. Courts accept such evidence, but each item rarely convinces on its own, so only the combination works. We set out the practice of proving a loan without a receipt in detail on the page about recovering a debt under a receipt<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What can be claimed on top of the principal<\/h2>\n

Most claimants ask only for the sum they lent, and lose money doing so. Article 625 of the Civil Code allows inflation losses for the whole period of default plus three per cent per annum to be added to an overdue monetary debt. Over three years of default that adds a noticeable share to the claim, and the calculation is set out in the statement of claim itself as a separate table.<\/p>\n

If the receipt provided for interest on the use of the money, Article 1048 of the Civil Code applies as well. Where the rate is not agreed and the loan exceeds fifty times the tax-free minimum, interest accrues at the National Bank\u2019s discount rate. A loan is treated as interest-free only where the receipt says so expressly, or where the money passed between individuals in a sum not exceeding that threshold and not for business purposes.<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/p>\n

Court order or claim: the difference nobody mentions<\/h2>\n

Online advice often points to a \u201cquick court order\u201d, but for a debt between individuals that route is closed. Article 161 of the Civil Procedure Code allows an order for a debt under a written contract only where the claim is against a legal entity and the sum does not exceed a hundred subsistence minimums for working-age persons, that is 332,800 UAH in 2026. A neighbour\u2019s debt under a receipt does not fall within that list, and the application will be returned.<\/p>\n

So what remains is an ordinary claim in the local general court at the debtor\u2019s registered place of residence. If the sum does not exceed a hundred subsistence minimums, the case is heard under simplified claim procedure, which noticeably shortens it. Filing through the Electronic Court is more convenient: documents are submitted with an electronic signature, and the court fee is calculated with a coefficient of 0.8.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Situation<\/th>\nMain evidence<\/th>\nRealistic time to judgment<\/th>\nCourt fee<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Receipt with a date and an amount<\/td>\nThe original receipt<\/td>\n3\u20136 months<\/td>\n1 % of the claim, minimum 1,331.20 UAH<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bank transfer with a payment reference<\/td>\nBank statement<\/td>\n4\u20138 months<\/td>\n1 % of the claim, minimum 1,331.20 UAH<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Money handed over with no documents<\/td>\nCorrespondence, witnesses, audio<\/td>\n8\u201314 months<\/td>\n1 % of the claim, minimum 1,331.20 UAH<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
A company\u2019s debt under a written contract up to 332,800 UAH<\/td>\nThe contract and the acceptance act<\/td>\n1\u20132 months<\/td>\n332.80 UAH for a court order<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

What getting your money back costs<\/h2>\n

Besides the court fee there are legal costs, and they can be shifted onto the debtor: the court apportions costs between the parties in proportion to the claims allowed. To have them awarded, the case file needs the agreement with the lawyer, the act of services rendered and proof of payment, and this must be done before the hearing on the merits ends, or within five days of the judgment if you gave notice of your intention.<\/p>\n

At Svarog an oral consultation on the prospects of recovery costs from 1,500 UAH, preparing the statement of claim with the calculation of inflation losses and three per cent per annum from 5,000 UAH, a lawyer\u2019s attendance at one hearing from 3,000 UAH, and handling the enforcement stage from 3,000 UAH. Full handling of a civil case from filing to the money actually arriving starts at 25,000 UAH. The full list is on the legal services price list<\/a> page.<\/p>\n

What to do: from the demand to frozen accounts<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Send a written demand for repayment by registered post with a list of contents. If the receipt sets no deadline, the debtor has thirty days from that moment under Article 1049 of the Civil Code.<\/li>\n
  2. Assemble the evidence: the original receipt, bank statements, screenshots of correspondence showing the phone number or account, written witness statements.<\/li>\n
  3. Calculate the value of the claim: the principal, inflation losses and three per cent per annum for every day of default. The court fee is calculated on that sum.<\/li>\n
  4. File the claim with the court where the debtor is registered, preferably through the Electronic Court with its 0.8 coefficient on the fee. File an application for interim relief freezing property and accounts together with the claim if there is a risk they will be moved.<\/li>\n
  5. Once the judgment is final, obtain the writ of execution and apply to a state or private enforcement officer. The appeal period is thirty days from the date the full text of the judgment is drawn up.<\/li>\n
  6. During enforcement keep the officer\u2019s work under review: check the registers for the debtor\u2019s property, press for accounts to be frozen and for a temporary travel ban.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Enforcement: what is actually recovered<\/h2>\n

    A judgment on its own brings no money. Recovery runs under the Law \u201cOn Enforcement Proceedings\u201d, and the officer debits accounts and levies execution against a car, real estate, a share in a company\u2019s capital, and wages. No more than twenty per cent is withheld from earnings, so a debt of several hundred thousand hryvnias takes years to collect from a salary if there is no other property.<\/p>\n

    On top of the debt the debtor pays an enforcement fee of ten per cent of the sum to be recovered. A private enforcement officer\u2019s basic fee is also ten per cent, but it is collected from the debtor, not from the creditor. The effective lever remains the temporary ban on leaving the country: it is imposed by a court on the officer\u2019s application, and it is what most often makes a debtor suddenly find the money. When a case moves into the enforcement stage we handle it under our debt recovery<\/a> service.<\/p>\n

    Typical mistakes<\/h2>\n