The head of the Ukrposhta branch appropriated 109,985 hryvnias to pay off the loan debt – the court’s decision

The employee, while in the position of head of the division of Ukrposhta, spent money in the amount of 109,985 hryvnias.

The employee held the position of manager in one of branches of Ukrposhta. She misappropriated funds to pay off a personal loan, as a result of which the company suffered losses in the total amount of 109,985 hryvnias. This is reported in the ruling of the Vilnius District Court of Zaporizhzhya Region, published on July 18, 2025.

On April 27, 2019, based on the order of the Zaporizhzhia Directorate of the Ukrposhta joint-stock company, the employee was transferred from the post of postman to the position of the head of the postal department in the village of Bogatyrivka, Vilnyany district, Zaporizhzhia region. During her appointment to the position of head of the post office, an agreement on full financial responsibility was concluded with her on April 22, 2019. In February 2021, the security service of the branch received information about a possible lack of cash in the cash desk of the post office in the village of Bogatyrivka. Immediately, the branch formed a commission and initiated an official inspection. In the course of the audit (inventory) of funds under her control and goods and material values, a shortage of 96,006 hryvnias was revealed. According to the citizen’s explanation, she admitted that the shortage was her fault, as she took funds from the cash register to repay her own loan, and also lent consumer goods to local residents, which they did not return on time. According to the receipt written by her own hand, she undertook to fully compensate the losses caused to the company by depositing her own cash funds into the cash register. On 23.02.2021, after obtaining the permission of the trade union organization, based on the order, she was dismissed from her job under clause 2 of Article 41 of the Labor Code of Ukraine due to loss of trust. After establishing the reasons for the shortage and the guilty party, on March 9, 2021, Ukrposhta turned to the police along with the corresponding notification of the commission of a crime. On March 9, 2021, the police opened a criminal proceeding based on Part 2 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – embezzlement.

After the dismissal of the employee from the company, in the process of processing and entering into the automated accounting system of the company the primary accounting documentation received from the Bogatyrivka VZ and reports on the sale of goods, new episodes of embezzlement during the period of her work at the company were additionally discovered. Thus, according to the addendum to the act of official investigation dated February 24, 2021, it was established that she had additionally appropriated 13,979 hryvnias. Thus, the total amount of damages caused by her to the enterprise amounted to 109,985 hryvnias (96,006 + 13,979). However, after conducting an almost two-year pre-trial investigation, the police found that her actions did not constitute a criminal offense (crime), provided for in Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. During the pre-trial investigation, the statute of limitations for resolving the dispute in court for this type of offense has expired. In connection with these circumstances, the violated rights of AT “Ukrposhta” were left without judicial protection guaranteed by the Constitution of Ukraine, since, in accordance with the terms of the agreement on full material responsibility, the citizen, having assumed the obligation to preserve the tangible assets entrusted to her by Ukrposhta, undertook to compensate for the lack of funds and the value of missing or damaged goods and material values ​​in accordance with the current legislation of Ukraine.

What decision did the court make? The court satisfied the claim of the joint-stock company “Ukrposhta”. Damage caused due to improper performance of her official duties in the amount of 109,985 hryvnias will be collected from the employee in favor of the postal operator.

“On the basis of the materials examined during the consideration of the case, the court established that the defendant was accepted as the head of the postal department. However, as a result of the violations committed by the defendant, the latter caused material losses to the joint-stock company “Ukrposhta”. The plaintiff fully proved the existence of all the circumstances that serve as a basis for recovering the damages from the defendant. Taking into account these circumstances, having investigated and assessed, based on its internal conviction, the evidence provided, both individually and in their entirety, guided by the principles of reasonableness and justice, the court came to the conclusion of the need to satisfy the claim and recover in favor of the plaintiff the material losses caused by the employee during the performance of his work duties, in the amount of 109,985 hryvnias,” the court emphasized.

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