In May 2013, the Russian law firm ART DE LEX plans to release a review of the Federal Law “On the Contract System for Procuring Goods, Works and Services for State and Municipal Needs”

Lawyers in ART DE LEX’s Anti-monopoly Regulation practice group are completing work on a review of the Federal Law “On the Contract System for Procuring Goods, Works and Services for State and Municipal Needs” (the “New Law”) that was signed by the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, on 5 April 2013. The Law comes into force on 1 January 2014.

According to lawyers who for the past two years have taken an active part in preparing and discussing the New Law, reforming the state procurement system will end up being one of the most important events of 2013. Indeed, it will have a large effect on the activity of suppliers and contractors in a market that today is valued at RUB 6 trillion, and continues to grow.

The New Law will significantly alter the approach to regulating this area, and it is intended to run the entire lifecycle of state and municipal purchases, from planning to auditing the efficiency of making purchases. The New Law will replace the current one which dates from 21 July 2005 (Federal Law No. 94-FZ) and that is titled “On Placing Orders to Deliver Goods, Fulfil Works, and Render Services for State and Municipal Needs”. The numerous amendments to and application of the outgoing law has caused many negative reactions amongst specialists.

All of the substantial innovations to the New Law will be discussed and commented on in the ART DE LEX review. The goal of the review is to create a universal reference guide on the upcoming changes, which is intended to assist those taking part in procurement procedures to get ready for the time that the New Law comes into force.

According to Yaroslav Kulik, Head of Anti-monopoly Regulation at ART DE LEX, “the review should be a reliable guide for companies and enterprises in various areas of business to apply the New Law, thereby allowing them to avoid problems and errors associated with the switch to the contract system of procurement”.