FIFTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 44297/18
LUGANSKTEPLOVOZ, PAT
against Ukraine
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting on 3 July 2025 as a Committee composed of:
Andreas Zünd, President,
Diana Sârcu,
Mykola Gnatovskyy, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 3 September 2018,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The applicant company, Luganskteplovoz, PAT, was registered in 1995.
The applicant’s complaints under Article 13 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention concern the alleged refusal of the State authorities to confirm the applicant company’s entitlement to the VAT refund and the lack of effective remedies in this regard.
Since the lodging of the application in September 2018, there has been no effective communication with the applicant company. On 12 August 2024 the applicant company was invited to confirm whether it maintained its application before the Court. Its attention was drawn to Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention, which provides that the Court may strike a case out of its list of cases where the circumstances lead to the conclusion that the applicant does not intend to pursue the application. However, the relevant letter of the Court, sent through the Court’s Electronic Communication Service (eComms), was not downloaded by the applicant company.
Subsequent attempts by the Registry to contact the applicant company by telephone were unsuccessful. On 18 March 2025 a follow-up letter was sent to the company’s email address, inviting it to respond by 31 March 2025 via eComms, post, or fax. No reply has been received to date.
Moreover, it has not been possible to establish postal contact with the applicant company, as its registered office is located in Siverskodonetsk, a town situated in the territory currently outside of the control of the Ukrainian Government, where neither Ukrainian nor international postal services are operational.
It follows that there is no effective contact with the applicant company.
THE LAW
The Court notes that all the available means to contact the applicant company have been used without success. The applicant company did not provide the Court with any new contact information which could have allowed the Court to conduct further proceedings.
In the light of the foregoing, and in the absence of any special circumstances regarding respect for the rights guaranteed by the Convention and the Protocols thereto, the Court, in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention, considers that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application (see Bryska and Others v Ukraine [Committee] (dec.), no. 11706/13 and 5 others, 2 November 2023, and Zhadan and Others v Ukraine [Committee] (dec.), no. 29283/13 and 26 others, 14 December 2023).
The Court, however, reiterates that under Article 37 § 2 of the Convention it may decide to restore the application to its list of cases if it considers that the circumstances justify such a course.
Accordingly, the case should be struck out of the list.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases.
Done in English and notified in writing on 28 August 2025.
Viktoriya Maradudina Andreas Zünd
Acting Deputy Registrar President