The Concept of Introducing Eco-Friendly Criteria into The Contract Procurement System
The article analyses the current level of development of the topic of "green" public procurement both in Russian legal acts and in domestic scientific literature. The authors conducted a categorical analysis of the term "green" public procurement, based on which the definition recommended for use in the Russian system was derived. The analysis of international experience in the implementation and development of green procurement was followed by a description of the specifics of legal regulation in several countries. By means of an electronic questionnaire survey of contracting system entities, the current level of application of environmental criteria in procurement was empirically assessed and the attitudes of Russian customers and suppliers towards the introduction of new environmental requirements in procurement legislation were identified. Thus, customers are not motivated to use "green" criteria, as they are not aware of them and their application may be regarded by regulatory authorities as a restriction of competition, and suppliers are not interested in producing such products, since they will not be competitive due to the high price. Based on the results obtained, recommendations were developed for the gradual, step-by-step incorporation of norms and practices related to the greening of the procurement process into the contract system.