The Concept and Essence of a Sales Contract
An international contract of sale, viewed through Georgian law, rests on the general model established by the Civil Code: under a contract of sale the seller must transfer to the buyer the right of ownership in property, hand over the documents associated with it and deliver the goods, while the buyer must pay the agreed price and accept the property purchased. This bilateral structure forms the essence of the contract and frames the parties' expectations on both sides of the transaction.
The question of price is particularly important in international trade: if the contract does not directly indicate the price, the parties may agree on the means of determining it. This implies that a price calculation mechanism — an exchange quotation, an index or another objective criterion — becomes a full-fledged part of the contract and ceases to be contested at the moment of performance. Well-drafted price clauses are therefore the first line of defence against cross-border disputes.