16.09.2022

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The Chambers of Commerce and Industry certify the military aggression as a significant change in circumstances during the contract performance and issue the relevant conclusions.

 

When is it relevant?

 

• You are a counterparty to a contract (supply, sale of products, lease, warehouse storage contract, etc.).

• Military aggression of the russian federation and its implications directly complicate / burden performance of the contract (e.g. you cannot deliver the goods to the occupied territory, sell the products due to their destruction, use the leased property for its intended purpose, etc.). Thus, the contract performance loses its meaning, or the final result thereof will not be the one the parties to the contract expected.

• You intend to modify or terminate the contract, however your counterparty provides no consent thereto, or unilateral modification / termination of the contract is not specified by contract / law.

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In such case, you can apply to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry to obtain its conclusion certifying significant change in circumstances, which were indispensable for the contract performance.

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A change in circumstances for further contract performance is considered significant if the circumstances have changed to such an extent (in this case due to the military aggression of the russian federation) that parties to the contract would not have concluded the contract or would have concluded it on other terms (for example, would have provided for a different term or the territory of contract performance, agreed on a different price or on the possibility of compensation for costs, would not have establish liability, etc.), if they could have foreseen such circumstances.

 

When issuing the conclusion on a significant change in circumstances, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry will establish, whether your contract relations meet the following 4 conditions:

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1. At the time of contract conclusion, the parties assumed that such change in circumstances would not occur;

2. The change in circumstances results from such factors which the interested party could not eliminate following their occurrence even with required reasonable care and prudence;

3. The performance of contract would violate the ratio of property interests of the parties and would deprive the interested party of the benefits it was expecting when concluding the contract;

4. The essence of the contract or the business practice do not specify that the risk of change in circumstances shall be borne by the interested party.

 

Provided that all 4 conditions are established, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry issues a conclusion on a significant change in circumstances specifically for your contract.

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Advantages of the conclusion issued by the CCI:

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• Can be used as a core argument during the negotiations with your counterparty in order to agree on contract modification or termination within a pre-trial procedure.

• Can be used as a key piece of evidence for the court to modify or terminate the contract, if you are unable to reach an agreement with the counterparty.