Recovery of Lost Profits as a Way of Recovery of Damages in Russian and Foreign Civil Law

Lost profits under Russian law is one of the most underestimated remedies available for a non-breaching party in case of a breach of a contract. Russian courts rarely satisfy claims for recovery of lost profits, which is also due to the overstated standard of proof in these cases. This paper is devoted to the determination of possible ways to improve the regulation of recovery of lost profits as a legal remedy for breach of contract under Russian law. For this purpose, both historical analysis of the development of recovery of lost profits and comparative legal analysis of the regulation of recovery of lost profits in the civil law and common law legal systems, as well as analysis of current problems in the Russian legal system in connection with the recovery of lost profits. According to the results of the study, the author makes several recommendations to improve the regulation of recovery of lost profits, including the reduction of the standard of proof, the use of tools existing in foreign law, including the principle of foreseeability of damages and the loss of chance doctrine, as well as the adoption of additional explanations by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation in order to clarify the existing legal positions on this issue.