Public contract as a way of dealing with monopolies: on the example of the oil market

The purpose of the present research is the determination of the civil law relations’ actual nature that allows to determine the limits of interference by the state, in particular, the issue of regulating conditions about the price of the goods, works, services. The research is based on the analyses of the civil law legislation as well as the judicial practice. The scientific methods used in article include prediction and analysis. In situation of recognition of the agreement of oil supply as the contract of energy supply, it becomes necessary to use the provisions of the public contract, in particular the requirement to establish equal oil prices for all consumers, leading to unnecessary restriction of civil law rights of independent oil suppliers who operate in a competitive environment. The discussion substantiates the oligopolistic nature of the oil market, in order to prevent the abuse of the right by suppliers - monopolists. It is proposed at the level of the Russian Civil Code to recognize public contracts of supply of goods (performance of works, services rendering) by persons occupying a dominant position on the relevant market.