riigihanke tulemusena ühe või mitme hankija poolt ühe või mitme isikuga sõlmitud vastastikuste varaliste kohustustega leping, mille esemeks on asjad, teenused või ehitustööd. Hankelepingule kohaldatakse õigusaktides vastava lepingu liigi kohta sätestatut
a government contract with a manufacturer or supplier of goods or machinery or services under the terms of which a sale or service is made to the government
Väljakuulutamiseta läbirääkimistega hankemenetluse korral peab hankija hankelepingu tingimuste üle läbirääkimisi omal valikul ühe või mitme huvitatud isikuga, olles eelnevalt esitanud neile hankedokumendid.
One of the fundamental principles of the single market is that all firms must have a fair chance of winning public contracts, i.e. contracts awarded by public authorities and by entities operating in the water, energy, transport and telecommunications sectors. There are considerable economic interests at stake in public contracts, whether these be for works, supplies or services, since out of an estimated gross domestic product of ECU 3 891 billion for the Community in 1990, public expenditure is estimated at ECU 1 790 billion and public procurement at ECU 595 billion, equivalent to around 15% of GDP.
