diff --git a/api/src/domain/schemas.py b/api/src/domain/schemas.py
index b11133e..47ae594 100644
--- a/api/src/domain/schemas.py
+++ b/api/src/domain/schemas.py
@@ -374,6 +374,10 @@ class AddProjectBody(BaseModel):
     staff_count: Optional[int] = None
     total_area: Optional[float] = None
 
+    @field_validator("year", mode="before")
+    @classmethod
+    def optional_year(cls, v: Any) -> Any:
+        return v or datetime.now().year
 
 class AddLineSchema(BaseModel):
     expense_item_id: Optional[int] = None
diff --git a/api/tests/integration/test_projects_api_smoke.py b/api/tests/integration/test_projects_api_smoke.py
index dc21b78..b480698 100644
--- a/api/tests/integration/test_projects_api_smoke.py
+++ b/api/tests/integration/test_projects_api_smoke.py
@@ -48,6 +48,31 @@ def _add_line(client, admin_tokens, auth_headers, project_id: int) -> int:
     pytest.skip("Не удалось подобрать expense_item_id для add_form3_line в текущей БД")
 
 
+def test_create_project_smoke(client, admin_tokens, auth_headers):
+    name = f"PT_{uuid.uuid4().hex[:10]}"
+    response = client.post(
+        "/api/v1/projects",
+        json={"name": name, "year": None, "branch_id": 1},
+        headers=auth_headers(admin_tokens),
+    )
+    assert response.status_code == 200
+    payload = response.json()
+    assert "project_id" in payload
+    assert (project_id := payload["project_id"]) is not None
+    response = client.get(
+        f"/api/v1/projects/{project_id}",
+        headers=auth_headers(admin_tokens),
+    )
+    assert response.status_code == 200
+    payload = response.json()
+    assert "result" in payload
+    assert "id" in payload["result"]
+    assert payload["result"]["id"] == project_id
+    assert "years" in payload["result"]
+    assert isinstance(payload["result"]["years"], list)
+    assert len(payload["result"]["years"]) == 1
+
+
 def test_projects_write_smoke(client, admin_tokens, auth_headers):
     project_id, name = _create_project(client, admin_tokens, auth_headers)