Judgment of Court of Appeal in Warsaw

15 November 2000

Case No. I ACa 855/00

Contractual deadline for payment of investment costs

Assessment of interest on late payment

1. The parties' agreement on cooperation and co-financing of road construction does not specify the date for settlement of investment costs between the parties. In the agreement the defendant agreed "to cover the costs in the part attributable to it, within 7 days." The wording "within 7 days" as used in this agreement is ambiguous, because it does not indicate the event from which 7 days are to be counted. This period should be determined by interpretation of the contract in light of the course of performance.

2. The plaintiff was required, upon demand by the defendant, to present the contract concluded with the contractor for the joint investment. This requirement was instrumental for proper settlement between the parties.

3. The plaintiff's claim against the defendant was not due and payable until it performed its duty to present the construction contract to the defendant. The 7-day deadline for payment of an amount equal to half of the costs of the joint investment was counted form the date of presentment of the contract. Thus the dates when the plaintiff delivered invoices to the defendant issued in connection with performance of the investment were not relevant to determining when the plaintiff's claim became due and payable.