On the Procedure for Applying the Provisions of Article 451 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation in the Event of Impossibility (Inappropriateness) of Continuing Work under an R&D Contract

The purpose of this work is to study the institute of a significant change in circumstances in relation to the situation of impossibility (inexpediency) of continuing work under an R&D contract. An analysis of the criteria for a significant change in circumstances is carried out, such as: insurmountability, unforeseenness, materiality, and risk aversion. Based on the results of the study, the author concludes that the provisions of Article 451 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation are applied when such circumstances are extraordinary, extraordinary, while the performance of the contract, although actually possible, creates a significant distortion of the balance of interests of the parties. If we are talking about the impossibility of performing (inexpediency of continuing) the work due to the presence of external circumstances that do not depend on the will and fault of the parties, and are an obstacle to satisfying the requirement for enforcement of the actual performance of the obligation, which are of an irremovable (permanent) nature, special rules of Chapter 38 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation apply, establishing a mechanism for the automatic termination of obligations arising from the R&D contract.