The Supreme Court has dismissed the cassation appeal by lawyer Bohdan Ulchak, who represents the journalist Maryana Metelska, against the ruling by the Horokhiv District Court of Volyn Oblast and the resolution by the Volyn Court of Appeal ordering Metelska to pay 50 thousand hryvnias to the Technotorg corporation.
Maryana Metelska reported this in a Facebook post and confirmed it to the Institute of Mass Information representative in Volyn oblast, Maya Holub.
In the 10 November ruling, the Supreme Court said that it could not accept the cassation appeal for trial because the applicant had not paid the full amount of the court fee for filing a cassation appeal.
Earlier, Maryana Metelska paid Technotorg 50 thousand UAH (i.e. 10 thousand to each company) and paid 6 thousand UAH in legal fees. The total sum exceeded 56 thousand UAH. The journalist was also ordered to retract seven points in an investigation published on the website.
The Supreme Court’s ruling states that the journalist must pay a court fee of 42,944 UAH for non-property claims and 750 UAH for property claims.
“The applicant has paid 12,525.30 UAH, therefore an additional court fee of 31,168.70 UAH is required,” the document said.
Previously
In August 2023, the Technotorg corportation sued Volyn Online chief editor Maryana Metelska over her investigation “‘Leftover’ Russian spare details available for sale: a company affiliated with the aggressor operates near Lutsk”.
The litigation lasted two years before the court passed a verdict. Technotorg first demanded that the editor pay UAH 750 000 in moral damages.
In July 2025, the Horokhiv District Court of Volyn oblast granted the lawsuit by Technotorg against Maryana Metelska, ordering her to pay UAH 50 000 (10 000 to each company) and to retract seven points from her investigation. The journalist disagreed with the ruling and filed an appeal against it.
However, on 30 September 2025, the Volyn Court of Appeal upheld the first instance court’s ruling. Maryana Metelska payed the sum to Technotorg. The total sum including the court fees exceeded UAH 56 000. On top of this, the journalist had to retract seven points from her investigation.