Court bans geology service from suspending Ukrnafta's licenses due to tax debts
Kyiv's district administrative court has banned Ukraine's State Service for Geology and Deposits to suspend licenses of public joint-stock company Ukrnafta due to tax debt concerning payment of the deposit use royalty.
The ban is outlined in a court ruling dated August 31, 2016 issued under a claim of Ukrnafta asking to revoke order No. 271 of the State Service for Geology and Deposits dated August 23 on suspension of the licenses to produce hydrocarbons in Poltava region.
Ukrnafta believes that actions of the authority to suspend the licenses could result in reduction of oil and gas production by the company and stoppage of gas supplies for the needs of households and other consumers. Payment of taxes and duties to the budget would be stopped, risks of ecological character would appear and payment of wages would be blocked.
As reported, the State Service for Geology and Deposits on January 26, 2016 suspended Ukrnafta's oil and gas licenses for Dnipropetrovsk region due to tax debts.
Kyiv's district administrative court on May 4 declared the authority's order void. On July 14, the authority lost after filing a counterclaim. At present, the counterclaim is being head by the higher administrative court.