The customer did not send an application for the supply of goods - the courts saw a unilateral rejection of the state contract
The parties agreed to supply medical products at the request of the customer. During the execution of the transaction, the supplier received no requests. The contract was about to expire, so the counterparty did not wait and sent the entire batch of goods by courier.
The customer refused acceptance, as he did not send an application. Later, he offered to terminate the deal under the agreement, since the need for products did not arise. The supplier agreed on the condition of compensation for losses and lost profits, but the parties did not agree.
The appeal and cassation recovered losses from the customer in the form of the cost of medical products and delivery costs, as well as state duty:
obligations must be fulfilled properly. The customer should have submitted applications, and his counterparty should have transferred the products in full and on time;
the customer did not send requests for delivery, and later did not accept the goods. Such behavior is a unilateral refusal to fulfill the contract. In such a situation, the Supplier is entitled to damages within the limits of actual damage.
The courts did not recover the lost profit. The principle of limited liability of the state customer was applied to the relations of the parties.
The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation did not review the case.
In practice, there is an example when the customer sent requests for the supply of goods, but did not select the entire volume. The courts ordered to pay for the remaining products. The argument about the lack of need was rejected.
Document: Ruling of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 28.09.2023 N 309-ЭС22-12785