DO ENVIRONMENTAL PRIORITIES OF THE STATE AFFECT THE PRACTICE OF PUBLIC PROCUREMENT?

Abstract

The paper analyses the extent to which environmental priorities of the government affect procurement activities of government bodies, state-owned companies and public institutions. Environmental priorities are not formalised in Russian public procurement legislation, but they are reflected in the strategic documents, and as such may implicitly shape procurement activities. By surveying public bodies in 22 regions of the Russian Federation, we evaluate factors affecting decisions to use, or not, environmental criteria in procurement. Just about a third of surveyed government authorities and public organizations use environmental criteria in procurement. The type of the law, the position in the public power hierarchy, the size of the organization, the degree of employees’ awareness are key determinants of the decisions of organizations to follow environmental priorities in procurement. Results indicate a role for the commitment to government goals, as well as a possible effect of the fear of making an error in procurement decisions. Including explicit environmental requirements in the public procurement legislation and developing a set of model criteria may help further support pro-environmental public procurement.