Pursuant to a contract concluded in 2017, the company assumed obligations to develop working documentation for the manufacture of hydromechanical equipment for the Beloporozhskaya HPP-1 and Beloporozhskaya HPP-2 hydroelectric power plants being built in the Republic of Karelia. The working documentation was prepared by the company and transferred to the customer; however, the latter was in no hurry to pay for the work performed, in connection with which we, representing the interests of the company, filed a lawsuit with the Arbitration Court of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region to recover the debt and interest from the customer.
Objecting to the claim, the customer pointed to the transfer to them of an incomplete set of working documentation, the discrepancy in the names of some sections of the working documentation contained in the contract, and the act of acceptance and transfer of documentation. The customer also stated that they had lost interest in obtaining the result of the work due to the significant delay on the part of the client.
During the consideration of case A56-20200/2021, we proved that the company properly fulfilled its obligations to develop working documentation, which was transferred to the customer in full in an agreed manner – in person, electronically, and also through the final customer of the construction, as the customer requested. The customer, in violation of the contract terms and Article 720 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, did not declare a justified refusal to accept the work results, nor did they raise any complaints about the quality of the work performed. The court also agreed with the arguments that the progress of the work was due to the customer’s own inaction and, in any case, did not lead to the customer’s failure to execute the contract or loss of interest in obtaining the work result. As a result, the claim was satisfied in full, the decision was left unchanged by the decision of the Court of Appeal.
