Companies@UA: База компаний Украины

Kyiv, August 6 (Interfax-Ukraine) –CJSC Ukrtatnafta (Kremenchuk oil refinery in Poltava region) plans in court to ban Donetsk-based UTN-Vostok Ltd. from selling fuel under the Ukrtatnafta's trademark and demanded the payment of damages due to the violation of the conditions of an agreement on the sale of its products at UTN-Vostok's filling stations.

"The reason for the cancellation of the agreement is the repeated violation of conditions of the license agreement by UTN-Vostok, that is the sale of fuel made by other producers under the Ukrtatnafta trademark, the use of Ukrtatnafta's trademark at a larger number of filling stations than was foreseen in the agreement, and the low quality of client servicing," reads a posting on the Web site of Ukrtatnafta made on Wednesday.

Ukrtatnafta said that at present, UTN-Vostok has the right to use Ukrtatnafta's trademark and colors at 103 filling stations, and actually it uses it at 118 filling stations.

"CJSC Ukrtatnafta believes that UTN-Vostok unreasonably and illegally assumed the status of an official dealer of the company and notes that the company did not award UTN-Vostok any rights and powers to be the company's dealer," reads the report.

The report says that many complaints by UTN-Vostok clients have been registered. The company also said that actions of UTN-Vostok are considered as unfair competition on the retail fuel market.

Ukrtatnafta is also alarmed with reports of a possible transfer of the UTN-Vostok chain to the control of one of its direct rivals.

Commenting Ukrtatnafta's plans to cancel the license agreement with UTN-Vostok, UTN-Vostok commercial director, Vitaliy Leonchuk, said that this option could be realized.

"If Ukrtatnafta cancels the agreement, we'll use our own brand at filling stations," he said.