The paper discusses certain aspects of using decision support systems (DSS) in the anti-corruption field. In particular, it describes approaches applied by the authors to develop a DSS that helps relevant persons determine whether the situation they face constitutes a conflict of interest and choose an appropriate course of action.

In 2019-2021, a large-scale project to study corruption in Russian public procurement was conducted. One of its main results was a detailed catalog of 100 undue techniques used by unscrupulous customers to design corrupt tenders. The catalog seeks to contribute to enhancing corruption prevention and detection methods. Though based on always specific national experience, it can inform the design of public procurement policies in a highly corrupt environment in general and be adapted to the needs of other countries.

Based on the experience of dozens of countries with different legal and cultural contexts, the paper discusses how conflict of interest can be defined in anti-corruption legislation. Several most commonly used models of CoI legal definition are considered, as well as alternative approaches to formulating some of its key parts. Special attention is paid to the challenges involved in developing a workable definition and the consequences - not always anticipated and favourable - that may result from choosing some specific options