Ukrkosmos company refuses to pay USD 3 million of debt to SES Astra AB satellite operator assigned by the court. This was reported by MediaNanny.
The contract for the satellite communication via Astra satellite was made by SES Astra AB and Ukrkosmos in 2010. In the summer of 2014, due to three-years delay in payment for the services in favor of the supplier, the International Arbitration Court appointed to Ukrkosmos the penalty in the amount of USD 3 million, as well as fine in the amount of USD 215 thousand. In addition to the assigned amount, the Swedish operator required to collect from this state enterprise USD 53 thousand for the legal services, as well as USD 84 thousand of “arbitration costs”. The total amount was USD 3.367 million that is about UAH 88 million in the national currency.
Legal proceeding between Ukrkosmos and SES Astra AB operator do not stop until today. In June 2016 the Supreme Specialized Court has suspended a debt collection until the appeal proceeding would be completed, and only in September it announced the results of the trial.
Market participants who commented on the situation state that the debt in such amount could appear only in the case of a complete payment lack. Also they say that Ukrkosmos is unable to pay the debt in such amount.