News date: 7 April 2026
The North-Western Commercial Court of Appeal has upheld the position of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) in a case concerning the abuse of monopoly position by JSC Vinnitsaoblenergo regarding the Ukrainian fuel briquette producer, KMO LLC.
The dispute arose from the monopolist imposing unsubstantiated technical specifications for increasing the capacity of the enterprise’s electrical installations. Instead of providing the service, the grid operator required the Ukrainian manufacturer to finance the construction of new infrastructure amounting to approximately UAH 6 million. Due to the inability to meet these demands, the launch of a new production line was blocked.
The Ukrainian producer sought legal advice from Ilyashev & Partners Law Firm. Following the legal strategy developed by the Ilyashev & Partners’ team, the AMCU recognized the actions of JSC Vinnitsaoblenergo as a violation of the legislation on the protection of economic competition. The regulator ordered the company to cease the abuse and imposed the maximum possible fine.
JSC Vinnitsaoblenergo challenged this decision in court, citing technological specifics and alleged violations in the market share calculation methodology.
Ilyashev & Partners’ team, representing the interests of the Ukrainian producer KMO LLC and participating in the case as a third party on the side of the AMCU, proved in two instances that the monopolist’s demands were groundless. Attorneys also demonstrated that JSC Vinnitsaoblenergo’s actions created artificial barriers to the enterprise’s business activities, which would have been impossible under conditions of significant market competition.
The courts of first and appellate instances agreed with the arguments, upheld the AMCU’s decision, and dismissed the energy monopolist’s claim.
The project was handled by Alina Borovets, Attorney at Ilyashev & Partners, under the supervision of Oleksandr Fefelov, Partner and Head of Antitrust and Competition Practice.