BANJALUKA – Regarding the activities of members of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) in the premises of the Health Insurance Fund of the RS (FZO) and the company “Medietik” that were carried out this morning in Banja Luka, Transparency International in BiH reminds the public that it warned back in June 2020 to non-transparent procurements during the COVID pandemic that were carried out by this Fund and other public bodies in BiH.
TI BiH states that the FZO RS then awarded four contracts worth over 21.7 million KM to the company “Medietik”, exempting the procedures from the application of the Law on Public Procurement, i.e. without any public tender, competition or procedure that ensures competition or transparency.
“From the company Medietik” respirators for 2.1 million KM, masks and gloves for 1.8 million, consumable medical materials for preventing the spread of the corona virus for 10.9 million KM and ventilators for intensive care were purchased under a contract worth 6.7 million. In addition to this, on the same day, the FZO awarded contracts worth 2.5 million KM to the company Krajinagroup for the procurement of three-layer protective masks, as well as a contract worth 2.1 million KM to the company “Milšped” for the procurement of air transport.reports the Transprentno.ba portal.
In this way, the FZO RS allocated over 21.7 million KM in one day, and another contract worth over 13 million KM was subsequently concluded with the company “Medietik” by excluding the Law on Public Procurement, which is contrary to the interpretation of the BiH Public Procurement Agency, which mandates that the exemption can only be applied in case of extreme urgency, that is, when it is necessary to react within a few hours.
„Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina once warned about the harmfulness and illegality of this way of procuring medical material, and the fact that it took the authorities more than four years to act sends a worrying message about the efficiency and readiness of institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina to process the lack of transparency and obvious abuse during spending public funds”writes Transparentno.ba.
Source: capital.ba
