Russian government restricts public procurement data collection

Starting Jan. 1, 2025, Russian authorities have restricted the collection of data on public procurement, Vedomosti reports. The government procurement website no longer supports downloading information and documents in a format that allows for software-powered data analysis.

As the publication notes, while previously anyone could use an FTP server to obtain such documents from the Unified Information System (UIS), this feature has been replaced with “documentation and data provision services.” Previously, it was also possible for users to “mass download” — i.e. to access a cast of the database rather than just its individual parts.

From now on, it will be impossible to obtain data from the government procurement portal without authentication through the Unified Identification and Authentication System. Users will also be required to provide justification of the purpose for which the information is being sought. If the justification is deemed inappropriate, the services will be restricted or blocked for the user.

The number of data requests has also been limited. However, the manual for using “documentation and data provision services” does not specify the exact number of allowable attempts. One request can include only a single directory or document on the UIS subsystem, the manual says.

Alexei Gorbunov, the head of the tender support department at Tenderplan — a company that participated in the pilot project to change the data transfer procedure on the UIS portal — told Vedomosti that the authorities introduced the new restrictions in order to “keep track of who collects what data.”

In December 2024, the Yesli Byt Tochnym project drew attention to the fact that Russian government agencies had removed 385 sets of open data from the public domain in 2024. This figure represents a record high.

According to the study, the total number of deleted or hidden datasets in 2024 increased by 16% compared to 2023. The Ministry of Finance, federal statistics agency Rosstat, and the Federal Tax Service were among the leaders in the field of restricting access to information.

Data that disappeared from public access included statistics on state support for the economy, state procurement data, and reporting on the distribution of budget funds. As Yesli Byt Tochnym researchers emphasized, this information is key to analyzing the government's economic and social policies.