Commercial Credit in the Activities of Business Entities: Features of Legal Regulation in the Russian Federation

The activity of any economic entity, both in the Russian Federation and in any other country, needs free financial resources. They are used for entrepreneurial activities, as ultimately the purpose of such activity is to make profit. Money can be obtained under a loan agreement in a credit institution. Generally obtaining a loan from a credit institution is associated with increased costs (high bank interest and bank charges), the need to provide security and the length of the procedure for obtaining a loan. Commercial loan, however, is deprived of these shortcomings. Commercial credit is provided by economic entities to each other in the process of doing business, and it allows you to get free financial resources, both in the short and in the long business term. Economists believe that in the means of the increase of working capital a commercial loan is second in importance after banking one. Commercial loans are widespread both in the Russian Federation and abroad. Despite the widespread use of commercial credit in economic activity, it is governed by only one article in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. The purpose of the study is to analyze a commercial loan agreement and study the legal relationship between the lender and the borrower. Objectives of the study are to study of the essence of a commercial loan; to study of the relationship of a commercial loan agreement with other agreements and other civil structures. The methods that were used in the study are the following: a formal legal method to define the concept of a commercial loan agreement, a system-structural analysis method to determine the nature of a commercial credit, a comparative legal method to determine the relationship of a commercial credit agreement to other agreements and other civil legal constructions. The result of the study is a proven conclusion that a commercial loan agreement is an independent agreement. The findings and results of the study can be used for further research and as educational material, in legislative work and in law enforcement practice.