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Introduction. Today, the competencies that every university graduate should possess upon graduation form the basis of present Federal State Educational Standards for Higher Education (FSES HE). Despite publicly expressed criticism by many representatives of scientific community about the competency-based approach implementation as it is realized at the Russian higher school, however, it continues to be approved as the basic approach that generates a number of negative consequences. The aim of the publication is to discuss the importance and adequacy of professional knowledge, skills and professional competencies that are formed in the process of higher education. Methodology and research methods. The comparative analysis, synthesis and generalization of the contents of the Russian and foreign documents and publications describing the theory and practice of application of the competency-based approach in the system of the higher education were used. Results. Key provisions of the law “On Education in the Russian Federation”, FSES HE, professional standards, materials of the European Tuning and the European Qualification Framework and other sources, disclosing the essence, purposes and problems of university preparation, have been considered and compared. It is shown that the main focus on professional competencies to the detriment of professional knowledge and skills leads to contradictions in the normative framework of the Russian higher education, complicates a possibility of diagnostics of its results and generates some other serious problems. Finally, the author concludes that primary orientation to skills and knowledge corresponds not only to traditions of university education, but also to the interests of university graduates who need to have a strong base for “education throughout all life”; as well as the requests from employers provided in professional standards. Practical significance. The author withdraws a well-grounded statement that the approach based on a triad of “knowledge-skills-competencies”, precisely in the specified hierarchical order, would provide an opportunity to plan educational programs more effectively and to achieve the strategic objective of the higher education - to prepare the participants for creation of the society of knowledge and knowledge-based economy. © 2018 Obrazovanie i Nauka. All Rights Reserved.