Public Procurement Efficiency as Perceived by Market Participants: The Case of Russia

This paper studies the indicators of public procurement efficiency as perceived by public buyers and suppliers and what barriers must be overcome for them to consider public procurement efficient. The analysis, based on an online survey of Russian procurers and suppliers in 2020, reveals that, despite the importance of fighting corruption and increasing competition, most procurers and suppliers consider the supply of high-quality goods and timely contract execution the most important criteria. The natural experiment with COVID-19 has mitigated the rigidity of the regulation problem but exacerbated the ambiguity problem. During the pandemic, public procurement contract execution worsened. To improve procurement efficiency, the regulator should clearly specify its requirements and consider the main participants’ interests.