4.  The applicant was born in 1938 and lives in the city of Donetsk, Ukraine. 5.  On 13 December 2000 the labour disputes commission (hereafter “the LDC”) ordered the “Zhovtnevy Rudnyk” coal mine (a State enterprise, hereafter “the ZRCM”) to pay the applicant UAH 29,875[1] in compensation for unpaid industrial disability benefits. 6.  On 13 March 2001 the Kuybyshevskiy District Court of Donetsk (hereafter “the District Court”) awarded the applicant UAH 7,427.58[2] against the ZRCM in salary arrears. 7.  On 9 January and 9 April 2001 respectively, the Kuybyshevskiy District Bailiffs’ Service (hereafter “the Bailiffs’ Service”) opened the enforcement proceedings concerning the above decisions. 8.  On 23 June 2001 the Deputy Head of the Donetsk Regional Department of Justice informed the applicant that the LDC decision of 13 December 2000 and the court judgment of 13 March 2001 could not be immediately executed in full due to the debtor’s lack of funds. However, on 22 March 2001 the applicant was paid UAH 388.88[3] of the benefits awarded by the LDC. 9.  On 19 April, 5 August and 6 December 2002 the Bailiffs’ Service informed the applicant that the decisions of the court and the labour commission could not be enforced on account of the debtor’s lack of funds and the moratorium on the forced sale of the property of State enterprises introduced by the 2001 Law. 10.  On 7 February 2003 the Ministry of Fuel and Energy ordered the merger of several coal mines, including the ZRCM, into the Donetskvugillia State Company. 11.  On 1 September 2003, relying on the fact that the ZRCM’s had lost its status as an independent legal entity, the Bailiffs dealing with the applicant’s case terminated the enforcement proceedings. However, on 23 October 2003 the Head of the Bailiffs’ Service annulled this decision as ill-founded. 12.  On 20 and 28 October 2003 the Bailiffs’ Service applied to the District Court, seeking directions regarding the replacement of the debtor in the applicant’s enforcement cases. On 24 and 30 October 2003 the court ordered that the debtor in the cases be replaced by the Donetskvugillia State Company. On 13 November 2003 the enforcement case was transmitted to the Voroshylovske District Bailiffs’ Service. 13.  The amount awarded by the judgment of 13 March 2001 was paid to the applicant on 5 December 2003. The benefits awarded on 13 December 2000 were paid in two instalments on 3 and 29 December 2003.