Today, the Tallinn Circuit Court handed down a judgement in the case brought by Tallinn University of Technology against AS Tallinna Vesi, partially upholding Tallinna Vesi's appeal and partially setting aside the judgement of Harju County Court of 25/04/2025, which had found the claim for late payment interest to be justified prior to 15/07/2022. However, the Tallinn Circuit Court also agreed with the county court that the claim by Tallinn University of Technology against Tallinna Vesi may be justified, at least to some extent; the limitation period should not be applied to the claim, and proceedings should continue regarding the amount of the claim.
Tanel Kalaus, Attorney-at-Law and authorised representative of Tallinna Vesi, said: "Today's judgement contains several positive aspects; for example, the circuit court agreed with our position that the claimant's claim is neither a competition law claim nor a non-contractual claim. The court judgement was, however, surprising in its interpretation of the statute of limitations and left several important questions unresolved, which, in my view, would require the assessment of the Supreme Court."
Tallinna Vesi cannot agree with today's court settlement. From the outset of the dispute, the company has maintained that it has not breached any contracts with its customers and that its pricing has been in accordance with applicable legislation.
The situation in question arose due to unclear regulations in place between 01/11/2010 and 30/11/2019. The legislation governing the pricing of water services changed in 2010 - whereas prices had previously been set by the local authority, from then on, they had to be approved by the Competition Authority, which used its own methodology to approve prices. However, the company could not suspend the provision of the vital water service until the matter was clarified, but continued to operate, in accordance with binding contracts previously concluded and its best understanding of the legislation and the Competition Authority's interpretation of the methodology, whilst at the same time seeking clarification from the court regarding their correct interpretation. Clarity was finally achieved only with the Supreme Court's settlement in 2017, following which a new application to set prices was immediately submitted.
In today's settlement, the court did not assess the amount of the claim, but ruled that proceedings must continue in this regard. If it is established that Tallinn University of Technology and the persons who assigned their claims to it have passed on the alleged loss, they have not suffered any loss and the claim is unfounded.
Today's judgement has not yet taken effect, and the parties involved have 30 days from receiving the judgement to appeal against it.
The company believes that the ongoing litigation will not have a significant impact on the company's financial results.
The company's previous stock exchange announcement on this case can be found on its website.
Melika Kiilmaa
General Counsel
AS Tallinna Vesi
(+372) 62 62 200
melika.kiilmaa@tvesi.ee
