Lifting account freezes: how to unblock your funds

Freezing a bank account does not mean a complete loss of access to your funds, especially during martial law, since the law sets clear grounds for lifting the freeze and temporary exemptions that allow you to use money even when enforcement proceedings are pending.

✅ Grounds for lifting an account freeze
The freeze on an account is lifted when:

1. Enforcement proceedings are completed and the enforcement officer closes the case.
2. The writ of execution is returned to the court that issued it.
3. The court cancels interim measures (securing a claim) after the enforcement proceedings are completed.
4. The debt is fully repaid, including the enforcement fee and expenses.
5. It is established that the enforcement document is not subject to execution or the debtor’s obligations have ceased.
6. The enforcement service receives sufficient funds to satisfy all creditors’ claims and cover fees and expenses.

🛡 3 steps to unfreeze your account
Step 1: Find out who froze your accounts and why — you can get this information from the Unified Register of Enforcement Proceedings or via the Diia portal.
Step 2: Contact the enforcement officer — the State Enforcement Service or the private enforcement officer handling your case. If you have just learned about the debt or have already repaid it, submit a reasoned application requesting that the freeze on your account be lifted.
Step 3: Apply to the court — if the application does not work, you as a debtor may file a complaint with the court. If you are not a party to the enforcement proceedings but the freeze affects your rights, file a claim asking the court to oblige the enforcement officer to lift the freeze.consultant.

💰 How to unfreeze a special-purpose account (salary, pension)
If a special-purpose account is frozen, you must:

1. File an application with the enforcement officer requesting to lift the freeze.
2. Attach documents confirming the special status of the account, such as:

• A bank certificate with the account details
• A certificate from your employer
• A certificate from the Pension Fund
• A certificate from another authority that makes payments.

To unfreeze a salary account, you must confirm its status by obtaining a bank certificate stating that this specific account is used for salary payments. The enforcement officer then issues a ruling cancelling the freeze on the “social” account, and unlawful restrictions can be challenged before the head of the enforcement department.just-dnipro.

⏰ Time limits for lifting the freeze
After repayment, submit payment confirmations to the enforcement officer, who will inform the bank so that the account can be unblocked.
The timing depends on when the bank receives the documents:

• During business hours — the freeze is lifted the same working day
• Outside business hours — the freeze is lifted on the next working day.

💵 Partial access to funds while the account is frozen
During martial law, a frozen bank account does not always mean a complete financial blockade.
A debtor may use funds from one current account within a monthly limit of two minimum wages (currently 16,000 UAH), by submitting an application to the enforcement officer to designate that account for spending transactions and specifying its details.news.

🛡 Challenging an account freeze
If you are not a party to the enforcement proceedings but the freeze affects your interests, you may file a claim asking the court to oblige the enforcement officer to lift the freeze.
If a bank refuses to allow spending transactions, you may challenge its actions before the National Bank of Ukraine by calling the hotline, sending an email to nbu@bank.gov.ua, or submitting an online complaint form on the NBU website.

⚠️ Important to remember

• The fastest way to lift a freeze is to fully repay the debt
• The rules on freezing accounts in enforcement proceedings are now significantly limited by special wartime regulations
• To unblock an account, you must submit a written application to the enforcement officer
• In the application, refer to the latest amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On Enforcement Proceedings”
• Sample applications are available on websites of organizations that assist debtors
• A freeze may be lifted, in particular, when proceedings are completed, the writ is returned to the court, or interim measures (securing a claim) are cancelled.

🎯 Are your accounts frozen and you do not know how to lift the freeze?
We can help: our legal services include analysing the reasons for the freeze, drafting a reasoned application, communicating with state and private enforcement officers, unfreezing salary and other protected accounts, challenging enforcement orders and bank actions, and representing you in court until full access to your funds is restored.

Yevhenii Murchenko, Head of Criminal Law and Procedure Practice at the Attorneys’ Association “WINNER Law Firm”.