4.  Mrs Aleksandra Gracheva was born in 1947; Mr Nikolay Grachev was born in 1936; Mr Anatoliy Yakovlevich Pedan was born in 1942 and Mr Eduard Gennadyevich Kuznetsov was born in 1969. All the applicants reside in the town of Zhovti Vody, the Dnipropetrovsk Region. 5.  Between 1999 and 2001 the applicants instituted separate sets of proceedings in the Zhovti Vody City Court (hereafter “the City Court”), seeking the recovery of salary arrears against their former employer - the State owned Electrongaz Company (hereafter “the Company”). 6.  On 7 June 1999 and 30 March 2001 the City Court awarded Mrs Aleksandra Gracheva a total of UAH 6,759[1] against the Company. 7.  By the City Court’s judgments of 7 June 1999 and 4 May 2001, and the Dnepropetrovsky Regional Court of Appeal’s decision of 15 August 2001, Mr Nikolay Grachev was awarded a total of UAH 5,358[2] against the Company. 8.  On 31 March 2000 and 29 March 2001 the City Court awarded Mr Pedan salary arrears of UAH 7,027[3] against the Company. 9.  On 19 February 1999 the City Court ordered the Company to pay Mr Kuznetsov UAH 2,916[4] in salary arrears. 10.  All the judgments above became final and were sent to the Zhovti Vody City Bailiffs’ Office (hereafter “the Bailiffs”) for compulsory enforcement. 11.  In letters dated 23 and 24 January 2003, the Bailiffs informed the applicants that the enforcement of the judgments in their favour was impeded by the entry into force of the Law on the Introduction of a Moratorium on the Forced Sale of Property 2001, which barred the attachment and sale of the Company’s capital assets. 12.  On 7 March 2003 the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Commercial Court (hereafter “the Commercial Court”) instituted bankruptcy proceedings against the Company and issued an injunction, barring the debt recovery. On 10 October 2003 the Commercial Court approved the rehabilitation proposal and appointed a trustee to run the bankruptcy rehabilitation of the Company’s business. 13.  On 21 October 2004 the Bailiffs terminated the enforcement proceedings in the applicants’ favour as the awards were paid to them in full.