Several homogeneous small government purchases were recognized as void transactions — the court left the payment to the contractor
In one day, the customer concluded 42 contracts for homogeneous work based on the results of small purchases from a single supplier.
The prosecutor considered that the single transaction was artificially fragmented in order to avoid competitive procedures. He demanded to invalidate the contracts and collect payment from the contractor.
The courts declared the transactions void, but did not collect payment for them:
the contractor, for a reasonable price, faithfully performed the work that the customer agreed upon. Their results have been accepted and used for socially useful purposes;
at the time of the work, the contracts were and were not recognized as void. It has not been proven that, in addition to preferences in concluding transactions, the contractor received other benefits;
since it is no longer possible to return the result of the work, collecting payment would allow the customer to benefit from his unfair behavior. The conclusion of contracts was initiated by the customer. It was he who violated Law No. 44-FZ, but financial responsibility is assigned to the contractor.
Note that the 11th AAC came to similar conclusions. The AC of the North Caucasus District, in similar circumstances, collected payment from the contractor. The Russian Armed Forces did not review the case.
Document: Resolution of the 17th AAC dated 01/29/2024 in case No. A60-26775/2023
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