The paper presents the results of a comprehensive research of the role of credence in developing productive business partnership relations in the context of present-day Russian business. The empirical research has gone through three stages. During the first stage structured interviews covering basic questions of development and quality of business partnership relations were conducted. Core respondents were experts in business partnership relations who had successful long lasting relations of such kind. At the second stage respondents having a variety of business partnership relations were interviewed. And at the third stage an experiment aimed at revealing contribution of each of the key aspects of successful business partnership relations was carried out. Key aspects contributing to successful business partnership relations, from the point of view of respondents, are «credence» and «intercompany profit and loss». In real situation though more effective was intercompany profit and loss factor, with credence factor maintaining partnership relations.