Public procurement in accordance with 44-FZ: changes in 2025
Background
Changes in public procurement legislation are an ongoing process, which we have reported on in previous publications on our website. In early 2025, amendments were made to the Federal Law "On the System of Contracts in the Field of Procurement of Goods, Works and Services for State and Municipal Needs" No. 44-FZ, the most important of which are listed below.
National treatment and its exceptions
In addition to the clarification of the concept of "national treatment" for foreign goods, works and services in 44-FZ, the provisions on exceptions to national treatment were also significantly amended – from 01.01.2025 these issues will be regulated by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 23.12.2024 No. 1875. The restrictions apply mainly to goods – for example, a supplier of foreign goods with a certain OKPD 2 code (All-Russian Classification of Goods by Economic Activity) may be subject to restrictions:
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a ban on procurement – tenders in which foreign goods are offered will be rejected. It is also impossible to conclude a contract with a single supplier for the supply of such goods;
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a procurement restriction – tenders with foreign goods are rejected if a proper tender for the supply of Russian goods has been submitted;
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preferential treatment of Russian goods – in a number of cases, Russian goods are purchased even if the offer of foreign goods is at a more favourable price.
This is a very general description of the restrictions, but it can give an idea of the potential difficulties for suppliers – we are talking about hundreds of items that fall under the OKPD 2 code. In addition, the new amendments to 44-FZ have introduced a procedure for providing information to confirm the origin of goods and set mandatory minimum percentages for the procurement of Russian goods.
More closed procurements
From 1 January 2025, a contracting authority that has received budget funds (e.g. from the federal budget) must conduct a closed competitive procedure if the procurement is carried out using these funds. As the number of such contracting authorities can be very large, suppliers should consider whether they wish to participate in such procurements.
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