You're reading: Ukraine’s debt to ECHR and national courts reaches Hr 1 billion – governmental commissioner

 Governmental Commissioner on ECHR issues Natalia Sevastianova has said that the amount of money that Ukraine owes to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and national courts currently equals Hr 1 billion.

 “The sum reaches Hr 1 billion. This is the amount for the judgments of European and national courts. As in the majority of the cases… we not only have to pay compensation but execute the judgments of a national court and pay the sum determined by the judgment,” Sevastianova told reporters in Kyiv on Tuesday.

According to her, there is a special program for executing international courts’ judgments, under which payments are made.

“For 2014, we have allocated Hr 170 million,” she said.

In addition, she noted that Ukraine is executing all the ECHR judgments despite issues with funding.

“Nearly one third of the required sum is allocated from the budget annually. A couple of judgments worth EUR 5 million have been made against Ukraine this year. Thus, this amount [of the debt] is very high,” she said.