Legal consequences of refusal of public procurement authority to conclude the contract with the winner of the competitive procurement procedure

Abstract

This article proposes to consider the debatable question regarding the legal consequences associated with the refusal of public procurement authority to conclude an agreement with the winner of the competitive procurement procedure conducted in accordance with the Federal Law dated 18.07.2011 No. 223 — FZ “On the procurement of goods, work, services by certain types of legal entities” (hereinafter — “Law No. 223”, the Law on Corporate Procurement). The article doubts the attempts to justify from the current legislation standpoint the existence of the obligation of the public procurement authority to conclude an agreement with the winner of the competitive procurement procedure provided with the possibility of judicial enforcement. In the absence of such an obligation, the author suggests to review the legal measures available to the winner of the competitive procurement procedure in order to protect its interests. At the same time, the article states that such measures are insufficient to the best interests of the winner of the competitive procurement procedure and does not comply with the public nature of relations in the field of corporate procurement. It is proposed to amend the Law on Corporate Procurement to eliminate these inconsistencies.