Abstract: The subject of the study is public-private partnership as a legal category. It should be noted that the introduction of the PPP system into the Russian legal system (practice) has become one of the most important decisions taken by the government to stimulate the economic growth of the country. The authors analyze the essence and interpretation of public-private partnership as a complex economic and legal phenomenon that constitutes the interaction of the state and private sector entities in the framework of the implementation of socially significant projects. The research methodology is based on the use of general scientific and private scientific methods (analysis, comparison, generalization, etc.), methods of studying the genesis of the phenomenon, interpretation of the structure and content of political and legal doctrines, as well as comparative and structural analysis, allowing to reveal the essential characteristics of the phenomenon under study. As a scientific novelty, the authors propose a number of additions to the Federal Law-224, including an augmented approach to the definition of public-private partnership. The authors noted that the criterion for generating goods (public, as well as mixed and mixed communal goods), in particular, during the implementation of other forms of agreements, should become a criterion for separating other forms of agreements between the state and representatives of the private sector – economic entities and what can (should) be classify it as a quasi-PPP, and the presence of 2 other signs is a dividing line between a quasi–PPP and a "full-fledged" public-private partnership.