Offset Contract as an Import Substitution Tool in Russia: Problems and Prospects

Abstract

The chapter of the monograph presents the author’s analysis of the nature and legal essence of the category “offset contract”. The authors consider the offset agreement as a government contract with counter investment obligations. It is argued that in the context of the current economic situation, offset contracts can become drivers in the field of import substitution and the development of the domestic market, since the investor (supplier) undertakes to create or reconstruct (modernize) an enterprise and produce turnkey products. The purpose of the offset transaction is to inject investment into the real economic sector. The authors examine the main types of activities within the offset contract, as well as the regulations governing the procedure for their conclusion. An offset contract is viewed as a public–private partnership with a guaranteed investment of funds for investors in the sector of the economy producing finished products, and as a way to protect the rights of entrepreneurs. The authors analyze the features of the legal regulation of public relations in the field of civil circulation of property rights, certified by the conclusion of an offset contract, from the perspective of civil law doctrine. As a conclusion, it is stated that the legal nature of the offset contract is determined by an innovative way of protecting the rights of investors and the scope of obligations known to civil law from a long-term supply contract, under which the supplier assumes investment obligations. The authors conducted a comparative analysis of legal restrictions that may apply to offset contracts in some foreign jurisdictions. A holistic scientific understanding of the “offset contract” phenomenon has been formed. The chapter of the monograph presents a legal analysis of the definition of “offset contract”, draws a clear line of demarcation of the boundaries of the term used, analyzes the legal framework governing it, the practices of using offset contracts in modern Russia, as well as the problems and prospects for their resolution when concluding and implementing these contracts.