Public procurement artificial ’’fragmentation’’: actual problems and customer’s responsibility

Abstract

One of the most urgent and controversial problems in the field of ensuring state and municipal needs is the public procurement artificial fragmentation. Fragmentation is carried out by customers in order to bypass certain price thresholds established by legislation in the field of procurement, to simplify or speed up procedures, or to obtain material benefits. At the same time, the discussion of the issue of procurement fragmentation is created by the lack of consolidation of this concept in legislation, which in turn leads to the emergence of different opinions regarding the criteria for qualifying a particular activity as fragmentation. The ambiguity in this matter is reinforced by the presence of generally ambiguous administrative and judicial practice. That is why the issue of procurement fragmentation remains relevant both for state and municipal customers and for regulatory authorities.