Ways to Modernize Antimonopoly Regulation in the Context of Law Enforcement Practice in the Field of Procurement of Goods, Works, Services by Certain Types of Legal Entities Regulated by Federal Law Dated July 18, 2011 № 223-FZ

This work is devoted to the study of the problems of legislative regulation in the field of procurement of goods, works and services by certain types of legal entities. The analysis of the provisions of Federal Law No. 223-FZ of 18.07.2011 revealed that at the moment, there are a number of legislative provisions which, in themselves, contradict the objectives of regulating the area of procurement by specific types of legal entity. In particular, these include the inclusion of deliberately ineffective bidding methods, such as auctions and request for quotations in the list of competitive procedures, which focus solely on price proposals and, within the scope of reductions, prevent customers from obtaining high-quality goods and services. Additionally, these provisions create the possibility for dumping strategies to be implemented, negatively affecting the supply structure in the market. The regulation of the process of determining the initial maximum price of a contract is also unjustifiable. The use of a reduction with an upper limit on the price determined through the market limits the ability of customers to obtain high-quality goods, works, and services. It underestimates the average weighted price of similar products in commodity markets and contributes to inflation by unfairly shifting purchasing costs to other buyers. In addition, Law No. 223-FZ creates an initial inequality in the negotiating power of parties at contract conclusion, leading to the inclusion of unfair terms in contracts by most customers. This contradicts the fundamental principles of civil law, such as the equality of participants and the prohibition of abuse. To address these issues, it is suggested that:To refuse auctions and requests for quotations, while prohibiting the evaluation of bids from procurement participants solely on the basis of price. Modernize the system for establishing the initial maximum contract price by introducing a customer-determined price range within which participants may submit proposals. At the same time, customers will determine the upper limit independently based on financial capacity and production needs and it will not be subject to reasonable justification. The lower limit will be defined as 75% of the weighted average market price or the cost of goods calculated in accordance with established methods, and bidders may offer prices below this limit only if they can provide evidence that the price is not a monopolistic low. To introduce a legislative opportunity for procurement participants to submit a counter proposal for the contract, while at the same time establishing an obligation on the part of the customer, within the framework of procurement regulations, to develop criteria for evaluating counter proposals.