Energy service contracts - one of the effective tools for the modernization of energy systems. Russian and foreign scientists are studying the mechanisms of energy service contracts, but in spite of the large amount of information on this subject, there is no comprehensive review of the use of energy service contracts in Russia and the European Union. The purpose of this article is a comprehensive analytical review of the use of energy service contracts in the EU and Russia. The article gives examples of energy service contracts, in practice, made a comparison of the use of energy service contracts in Russia and in the EU, to identify promising direction of development of energy service activities in Russia, taking into account the EU experience.