Background informationThe article investigates the role of negation in business discourse, which complies with the communicative code of conduct. It doesn't always permit conversational participants to directly express disagreement, discontent or denial, which fact bespeaks the need to use indirect speech techniques, allowing the interlocutors to achieve their aims while remaining on friendly terms with each other. This is achieved through implicit negation.Methods/AimsThe present study aims to give a comprehensive review of the functional-pragmatic potential of negation in modern English and Russian professional and business communication relying on the material of the corresponding languages.This aim involves addressing the following tasks:specifying the status of the category of negation, defining its connection with the notion of “negative utterances”;defining the factors determining functional-pragmatic diversity of negative utterances;identifying the role of lingua-cultural identity in expressing negation as exemplified in English and Russian conversational practices in different professional communicative settings;analysing the means used to express implicit negation in view of the functional- pragmatic line of research in English and Russian discourse.