Shmeleva M.V.

This article is devoted to consideration of one of the most important principles of the public procurement system — competition in public procurement. The article reveals the importance of this principle for the Russian procurement system, analyzes the main legal mechanisms for the implementation of the principle of competition in practice. In the study, the author comes to the conclusion that currently the principle of competition is only of a declarative nature. Real competition among bidders for government contracts are almost there, because more than half of all contracts in the absence of competition.