The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation: according to Law No. 223-FZ, the customer is not obliged in any case to conclude an agreement with the sole participant in the purchase
Applications from two participants were received for participation in the procurement conducted by the customer, taking into account the provisions of Law No. 223-FZ. Based on the results of consideration of applications, only one of the participants was allowed to participate in the procurement, in connection with which the purchase was declared invalid in accordance with the provisions of the procurement documentation, and the customer decided not to conclude a contract with the only admitted participant.
The participant appealed the actions of the customer to the antimonopoly authority, whose decision found the complaint justified. The violation imputed to the customer consisted in the fact that the customer, in the opinion of the supervisory authority, unlawfully refused to conclude a contract with a single participant.
Having disagreed with this decision, the customer filed a corresponding application with the court. Satisfying the stated requirements, the courts took into account the content of the procurement provision, from which it followed that when recognizing the purchase as invalid, the customer does not conclude a contract with the sole participant and announces a new purchase, and concluded that the applicant had no grounds for concluding a contract with the sole participant.
The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation agreed with the arguments of the lower courts and refused the antimonopoly authority to transfer the application for challenging court decisions to the Judicial Board for Economic Disputes of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.
Document: Ruling of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated June 4, 2024 N 305-ES24-8756.
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