Special Aspects of Criminal Activity in the Field of Public and Municipal Procurement

Objectives: In this work, the complex debate on risk perception is combined with its assessment, but from the standpoint of behavioral choice theories. Method: Traditional methods of research are not able to fully reveal the role of the individual characteristics of criminal risk subjects. The authors looked into socio-perceptual mechanisms of public procurement participants and resorted to the ‘red flags’ and ‘crime hotspots’ methods to clarify regularities at the individual level of deviant behavior in order to minimize them and to develop coping strategies Findings: Criminal risks of the national public procurement system have been audited; typical criminal risks arising in all procurement stages both on the part of customers and on the part of other parties have been theoretically diagnosed. The original hypothesis of an exclusively deliberate choice of criminal behavior has been confirmed in part. Improvements: The findings presented in the paper can help increase the detection of crimes in the area of public procurement, enhance the efficiency of investigations and minimize the scope for criminal abuse.