4,840,640.9 lei including VAT, i.e. approximately one million euros, is the amount that the Presidential Administration has spent, starting from January of this year, on direct purchases of goods and services, purchases for which the Presidency does not did not organize any competitive tender selection procedure. These data appear in the special section of the Electronic Public Procurement System (SEAP) and include a list of no less than 160 contracts, the first dating from January 17, and the last from September 18, 2024.
By far, the most spectacular direct purchase made by the Presidential Administration this year is the one initialed on March 15, 2024, which consists in the purchase of a tablecloth, whose final sale price mentioned in the award notice amounted to… 45,359 lei without VAT. This means that the total price, including VAT, of this tablecloth amounts to 53,997.21 lei (11,019 euros).
The business was the subject of a supply contract awarded by the company SC Crisedy Prodcom SRL, based in a building in the Crângași neighborhood of Bucharest, and, as can be seen from the content of the attached facsimile, it is, in the “quantity” chapter, about a single such product.
The tablecloth supplier, stuck to the contracts with SRI and MAI
The company that supplied the Presidential Administration with this tablecloth is also listed with several contracts with state institutions, also concluded through direct purchase. For example, on September 23, 2024, SC Crisedy Prodcom SRL delivered to the Bucharest National Opera a decorative carpet, worth 495 lei without VAT, as well as a red carpet, worth 33 lei without VAT.
Also, the said company also sold, also without the organization of any competitive bid selection procedure by the contracting authority, to the Department of Integrated Logistics Insurance of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, on September 2, 2024, towels worth 49,482.9 lei without VAT, on May 28, 2024 furnishing materials of 4,080 lei without VAT, and on May 13, 2024 towels and bed linen worth 91,460 lei without VAT.
And things don’t stop there. On May 9, 2024, UM 0461 Bucharest bought curtains worth 29,000 lei without VAT from the same company.
Furthermore, the Military Unit UM 0418 Bucharest of the Romanian Intelligence Service bought, directly, on October 9, 2023, curtains and drapes, including sewing operations, weaving and mounting riders and 10 centimeter regens, made 30% of cotton and 70% polyester, also from SC Crisedy Prodcom SRL. The value of the purchase then amounted to 11,796.76 lei without VAT, respectively to 14,0348.14 lei with VAT included (2,865 euros). This money included, as it follows from the cited award notice, 32.5 curtains with dimensions of 6.5 by 2.8 meters, 63 curtains with dimensions of 10.5 by 2.8 meters, 32.5 drapes with dimensions of 6.5 by 2.8 meters, 63 curtains with dimensions of 10.5 by 2.8 meters and 30 aluminum rails with two channels each.
UM 0418 Bucharest also purchased other things from the same company. On December 14, 2023, he bought pillows worth 27,140 lei without VAT, but also bed linen worth 95,760 lei without VAT, to which are added bath towels worth 7,200 lei without VAT. Previously, on November 2, 2023, the company in question supplied UM 0418 Bucharest with tablecloths worth 27,049 lei without VAT.
Renovating a toilet cost as much as two households in the country
Another direct purchase made by the Presidential Administration that particularly attracts attention is the purchase from April 4, 2024, when the Presidency of Romania awarded, without a tender, a contract with the object of carrying out works to fit out a sanitary group. The cost of these works amounted to 71,462.69 lei without VAT, i.e. 85,040.5 lei with VAT included (17,355.2 euros).
In the award notice through which this direct purchase was brought to the attention, through its publication on SEAP, it is written that it is about a single sanitary group, which was expanded and arranged in the premises of the C4 building within the “Palatul Cotroceni” Complex. The works were awarded by SC ANTO Facility Management SRL.
But equally hallucinatory purchases made by the Presidency are flowing. On January 18, 2023, DIY materials and products worth 138,665.46 lei without VAT were purchased from Dedeman SRL. On February 19, the Presidential Administration gave 29,411.77 lei without VAT for textile cleaning services. On March 25, 2023, the institution concluded with Rasirom RA, the official company of SRI, a contract of 159,191.27 lei without VAT, for a key management system.
On March 21, 2024, the Presidential Administration paid the company Ovo Design Furniture Group SRL the sum of 69,030 lei without VAT for interior door refurbishment services. On the same day, a contract of 139,100 lei without VAT was concluded with Societatea Cooperativa Meșteșugărească Mobilă si Tapițare Bucharest, for furniture refurbishing services. Also, on April 10, 2024, the Presidential Administration contracted from SC CIM Recycling Medical Europe 94 SRL terrace rehabilitation works, in the amount of 430,430.14 lei without VAT, after, on April 8, it concluded with SC Moob Global Impact SRL a contract of 160,000 lei without VAT, for rehabilitation works of an awning.
Also on April 8, the Presidency concluded with SC Vitanclean SRL a contract of 42,016.81 lei without VAT for carpet and rug cleaning services. On April 4, a metal shelving system was purchased from SC Vioatzoglou România SRL, worth 207,850 lei without VAT, and on April 2, a contract of 36,390.5 lei without VAT was concluded with SC Aqua Design SRL, for repairing a portable architectural lighting system.
With each passing month, the budget disappeared more and more sharply
Drawing a line over these deals made by the Presidency of Romania in the last year of Klaus Iohannis’ mandate at the Cotroceni Palace, we can make a brief assessment of this shopping fever. In January, 16 direct purchases were made, the value of which amounts to 219,318.4 lei including VAT.
During the month of February, 20 such purchases were made, the value of which amounts to 365,276.6 lei, including VAT, on the list of purchases including, among others, materials for making identification cards, maintenance services for elevators, flags, pennants , tricolor scarves and cockades.
The month of March came with a series of 18 direct purchases made at the Cotroceni Palace in the total amount of 835,851.25 lei including VAT, the list including, among others, some of the purchases I referred to previously, but also transport services, maintenance and repair services for the access control system or shutters.
In April, the Presidential Administration spent the most money on such direct purchases – 43 purchases, totaling 2,184,523.1 lei including VAT, after which the purchases turned out to be much less expensive. In May, only 6 direct purchases were made, totaling 72,373.95 lei including VAT. In June, 20 such purchases took place, totaling 385,635.3 lei including VAT. During the holiday, more precisely in July, the Presidency made 13 purchases, in the total amount of 97,537.34 lei including VAT, and in August 19 purchases took place, including the replacement of laminator panels or the purchase of a bicycle rack, whose total value amounted to 561,664.71 lei including VAT.
Upon returning from vacation, until September 18, 2024, the Presidential Administration made seven direct purchases, totaling 117,714.43 lei including VAT.
After the Presidency, SPP also bought plane tickets. 8,000 trips, in two years, for 6 million lei
Even the institution that deals almost exclusively with the protection of the President of Romania, the Protection and Security Service (SPP), is not inferior when it comes to chopping public money this year. This is because, on June 24, 2024, the militarized structure led by General Lucian Pahonțu published on SEAP a notice of participation through which it announced that it intends to conclude a framework agreement with the object of providing air transport services passengers, by booking and purchasing plane tickets for domestic and international passenger flights, “according to the specific travel needs of the Protection and Guard Service personnel, based on the contracts subsequent to the framework agreement, which will be concluded during its validity period.
According to the quoted source, during the period of the framework agreement, SPP estimates that it will purchase neither more nor less than 8,000 such plane tickets, given that the framework agreement in question extends over 24 months.
For this, SPP put to the test an estimated total budget of 5 million lei without VAT and organized an open tender. On September 3, 2024, the contracting authority awarded the framework agreement no. N1628/2024, to the group of companies TAROM SA, Weco TCM, Danco Pro Communication, Olimpic International Turism SRL, Round The World Travel, Transilvania Holiday Travel, J’Info Tours, Central Travel, Bboock Bed and Breakfast and International Service Expert SRL, at a final price equal to the initial estimate, i.e. 5 million lei without VAT, respectively 5,950,000 lei including VAT.
These purchases of plane tickets take place under the conditions that, on January 22, the Presidential Administration concluded a four-year framework agreement with some of the companies in question, with the object of purchasing plane tickets, worth of 8,500,000 lei without VAT, respectively of 10,115,000 lei with VAT included. Thus, if SPP will spend 5,950,000 lei on plane tickets in two years, which means 2,975,000 lei with VAT per year, the Presidential Administration gives 10,115,000 lei on plane tickets in four years, that is 2,528 .750 lei with VAT per year.
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Source: jurnalul.ro
