The Implementation of Environmental Criteria into the Public Procurement System in Russia

Introduction: based on the analysis of the achieved level of formal institutionalization of “green” public procurement in the Russian legislation, the paper substantiates the need to introduce environmental criteria. Purpose: to investigate the specifics of the implementation of environmental criteria into public procurement in Russia. Methods: the analysis of literary and scientific sources, synthesis. Results: the author examines the features of “green” public procurement through the prism of the current legislation regulating this process. Customers, putting forward requirements for environmental safety, including the effectiveness of goods purchased for state needs, provide the state with higher-quality products. In addition, such innovations encourage manufacturers and suppliers of goods and services to develop their activities taking into account environmental and energy-efficient trends. It is expected that the introduction of environmental criteria in procurement will lead to a reduction in the use of primary resources and reduce negative impacts on the environment. However, it is too early to talk about the formation of a national green procurement system. All this hinders the normal development of the public “green” procurement system. Conclusions: the development of the Russian “green” procurement system today requires national incentives since it has great potential in solving many internal national and regional problems. Based on the results obtained, the recommendations are formulated for the gradual integration of the norms and practices related to the greening of the procurement process into the contract system.