Annotation

The economy in Russia is undergoing significant structural changes in the current period of its development. The modernization of various sectors of economic activity affects the state of the current legislation. In this regard, the platform economy and digital platforms are becoming dynamically developing institutions. Civil circulation in virtual space has features and common features that combine it with traditional private law constructions. The latter include the use of the risk category in business law. The article provides a methodological analysis of the place of entrepreneurial (economic) law within the Russian legal system and examines the three principal theoretical approaches — as an independent branch of law, as a subbranch of civil law, and as an integrated complex branch. The author critically examines the objective and subjective conceptions of economic (entrepreneurial) risk developed in Russian civil law doctrine, and demonstrates the need to distinguish the concept of “economic risk” from “force majeure circumstances”. Particular attention is paid to the specific features of entrepreneurial risk in activities carried out on digital platforms: algorithmic and operational risks, legal and regulatory risks, financial risks, reputational risks, and risks associated with the handling of buyers' personal data within the platform. The positions of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and judicial practice under Article 53.1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and Article 239 of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation are analysed. The introduction of a legal definition of economic (entrepreneurial) risk into the modern Russian legal system is necessary for its further positive and progressive development. Based on the findings, the author proposes his own definition of economic (entrepreneurial) risk and its inclusion in Article 2 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.