--- title: "Force Majeure Doesn't Write Off Debts: How War-Related Losses Are Pushing Ukrainian Businesses Toward Bankruptcy" description: "After military destruction, Ukrainian businesses lose income, but loans and obligations remain. A lawyer explains why force majeure does not write off debts and when bankruptcy proceedings are necessary." date: 2026-09-11T13:40:00.000Z lang: en url: https://xab.info/en/posts/force-majeure-doesnt-write-off-debts-war-losses-bankruptcy tags: [] publisher: "XAB.info" --- # Force Majeure Doesn't Write Off Debts: How War-Related Losses Are Pushing Ukrainian Businesses Toward Bankruptcy ![Damaged industrial facility after shelling: destroyed roof, debris, and military personnel in the background](https://xab.info/media/2026/09/11/fors-mazhor-ne-spasaet-ot-dolgov-voennye-ubytki-bankrotstvo/fors-mazhor-ne-spasaet-ot-dolgov-voennye-ubytki-bankrotstvo-1.webp) For a Ukrainian entrepreneur, the loss of production capacity, warehouses, or inventory as a result of hostilities means not merely a loss but a systemic crisis of solvency. Destroyed equipment does not cancel credit obligations, tax liabilities, rent payments, wages, or claims from counterparties. As lawyer Oksana Kurochyna of Juscutum explains in an exclusive column for RBC-Ukraine, once the damage is documented, the enterprise faces a fundamentally different question: is it still able to continue meeting its monetary obligations, or is it already showing signs of insolvency. At present, the state does not provide business with a fast, universal mechanism for full compensation of war-related losses, which makes managing the debt burden the responsibility of the company's management itself. ### Evidentiary Base: What Needs to Be Documented First The first and mandatory step after military damage to property is the documentary confirmation of the loss. The lawyer lists the minimum set of evidence: certificates from the State Emergency Service (DSNS), the police, and the military administration; photo and video documentation of the destruction; inventory records; accounting documents; and an expert valuation of the lost assets. This evidentiary base is necessary for filing claims with insurance companies, participating in compensation mechanisms, conducting criminal proceedings, and resolving disputes with counterparties. However, as Kurochyna emphasizes, such documents record the scale of the losses but do not restore the enterprise's solvency or terminate existing monetary obligations. ### The Limits of Force Majeure: What It Excuses and What It Does Not Under Article 617 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, circumstances of force majeure may exempt a debtor from liability for breach of an obligation if those circumstances made its performance impossible. In practice, this means that force majeure generally removes penalty sanctions: late-payment interest, penalties, and losses due to delay. The principal debt itself — a loan, the cost of goods or services received, or rent — usually remains. A certificate issued by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine serves as evidence that force majeure circumstances have occurred, but in each specific case the court assesses the causal link between the event and the inability to perform that particular contract. Thus, force majeure and bankruptcy proceedings do not compete: the former addresses liability for the non-performance of a specific obligation, while the latter addresses the fate of an enterprise that has lost assets and is unable to meet the aggregate of its debts. ### The 'Altcom' Case: The Position of the Supreme Court A case that is illustrative for understanding judicial practice is the matter of LLC 'Road Construction "Altcom"' (case No. 925/843/25). The debtor objected to the opening of bankruptcy proceedings, citing the consequences of Russia's armed aggression, the loss of part of its property, and the complication of business operations in combat zones and temporarily occupied territories. In its ruling of 26 March 2026, the Supreme Court of Ukraine held that the mere fact of martial law, unprofitability of operations, or the loss of part of the assets is not sufficient grounds for refusing to open bankruptcy proceedings. The debtor is obliged to prove a direct causal link between the consequences of armed aggression and the inability to perform a specific monetary obligation. This precedent clearly establishes that military destruction may explain a business's financial crisis but does not automatically write off its debts. ### Sanation and Bankruptcy as Tools of Crisis Management When a halt in production leads to the loss of cash flow, payment delays, the accumulation of penalties, and litigation with counterparties, the issue quickly shifts from assessing losses to managing solvency. At this stage, the lawyer notes, the enterprise needs not only an appraiser or an accountant but also an independent crisis analysis of its financial condition. In a number of cases, this function is performed by an insolvency administrator within the framework of sanation or bankruptcy proceedings. Sanation allows debts to be restructured, payment deferrals to be obtained, and the enterprise to be preserved as an operating entity, whereas bankruptcy is an orderly liquidation that minimizes chaos for creditors and employees. The choice of procedure depends on the scale of the losses, the presence of collateral, and the prospects for restoring production. ### Practical Takeaways for Affected Businesses The combination of the points above allows several practical guidelines to be formulated. First, documenting the damage and obtaining a force majeure certificate are necessary but not sufficient measures: they do not terminate the principal debt. Second, management should conduct an internal assessment of solvency as early as possible, rather than waiting for delays to escalate into lawsuits. Third, what matters to the court is not general references to martial law but specific documents confirming the loss of assets and their link to the inability to perform a particular obligation. In conditions where no universal mechanism of state compensation exists, a legal strategy for managing debt becomes no less important than the operational elimination of the consequences of destruction. ## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification - [Force Majeure Doesn't Save You From Debts. How War-Related Losses Drive Businesses to Bankruptcy](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/fors-mazhor-ryatue-vid-borgiv-k-voenni-zbitki-1789133801.html) - Подтверждено по источнику rbc.ua - [Liability Under Force Majeure](https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/8847576) - Подтверждено по источнику kommersant.ru - [What Is Force Majeure and Why Is It Needed in a Contract?](https://www.sostav.ru/blogs/281446/59210) - Подтверждено по источнику sostav.ru - [Uzbekistan Introduces a 'Force Majeure' Regime for Business](https://www.apk-inform.com/ru/news/1509442) - Подтверждено по источнику apk-inform.com