Legal nature of the option contract
The article analyzes the main characteristics of the option contract as a separate, specific and new institute of the Russian civil law. At the same time, there are three theoretical approaches to the study of option transaction: as a kind of a preliminary contract, as an independent innominate contract or a contract of a special kind, as a conditional transaction performed according to the Article 157 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. It is concluded that the option contract in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation is considered in two meanings. It is a civil and legal contract, according to which the right, not the obligation, is mediated. Also, an option is a civil and legal contract, which the option buyer may terminate before the specified period on their own initiative. The author also investigates the rights arising from the option agreement. A comprehensive analysis allows not only to determine the legal nature of the option agreement, but also to formulate a definition of the option agreement that best meets the needs of modern civil circulation and the legislation of the Russian Federation. Thus, the paper concludes that the option contract is a special, independent civil and legal contract, which is characterized by consensual, synallagmatic, retribution and aleatory nature. The option contract contains elements of potestative conditions under which one party by an irrevocable offer gives the other party the unconditional right choice to conclude or not to conclude the contract on the conditions provided by the option.