Due to the contract with Procontrol and Travel4Fun, TI BiH filed criminal charges against the director of the RS Institute of Public Health last year.

Transparency International in BiH (TI BIH) reported illegal procurements of medical equipment for which the director of the RS Institute of Public Health and the owners of Procontrol2 and Travel4Fun were arrested to the prosecutor’s office last .

Banja Luka, 16. September 2021. – Illegal procurement of medical equipment due to which the director of the RS Institute of Public Health and the owners of the company “Procontrol2 and „Travel4Fun “ , Transparency International in BiH (TI BIH) reported to the prosecutor’s office last . In the criminal report , TI BIH documented the abuses that led to the illegal conclusion of million-dollar contracts with these companies.

He forwarded tender documents and other evidence to the competent prosecutor’s office of TI BIH, which he received in three separate negotiation procedures worth over 4.3 million marks, where contracts were awarded to these companies, although neither had a license to trade in medical equipment.

Such a condition was explicitly requested in the tender documentation, and regardless of that, the Institute invited these bidders to negotiations. Apart from the fact that they did not have a license from the BiH Medicines Agency, at that time they were not registered to perform this activity because Procontrol deals with electrical engineering, consulting and architectural and construction activities and “Travel for fun” is a travel agency.

The first is in early April 2020. The Institute awarded two contracts to Procontrol for the supply of protective masks and protective suits (one worth 345,000 and the other 1.65 million KM without VAT) and in both cases this company did not meet the requirements set in the tender documents. TI BIH is about that informed the public 30. April and the contract of 1.65 million was terminated in the meantime, with the explanation that “Procontrol did not meet the delivery deadline”.

In almost the same case, a contract worth 2.38 million KM was signed for the purchase of medical protective equipment with the travel agency “Travel4Fun”. TI BIH also received an official confirmation from the Medicines Agency that “Travel4fun” does not have a license to trade in medical devices, but this company was still awarded a contract. The Institute later announced that Travel4Fun was part of a group of bidders with the company “Promeding doo” from Laktasi, which has a license from the Agency, but it is not mentioned in the notice of the Institute published on the public procurement portal from which the public learned about this case.

TI BIH has especially problematized this in the criminal report because there is a justified suspicion that this company was added later in order to try to justify the illegal award of contracts.

Namely, the decision published on the Institute’s website states that the invitation to participate in this procedure was sent only to the unqualified bidder “Travel4Fun”, and that the company “Promeding” also appeared at the meeting on the terms of the bid. Article 28 The Law on Public Procurement explicitly prohibits such actions, because only qualified bidders who have previously been determined to meet the conditions are invited to negotiate. Therefore, their appearance with a company that at that time may have met the conditions does not change the circumstances that indicate serious criminal offenses of illegal provision of benefits to economic entities and negligent work in the service.

TI BIH hopes that this will not be the only case dealt with by judicial institutions, because since the beginning of the pandemic we point out numerous abuses during urgent public procurement procedures, and that this will not be one in a series of cases that remain without a court epilogue. That is why yesterday’s statements of certain officials who are directly putting pressure on the Republic Prosecutor’s Office and trying to justify the actions of the suspects are especially worrying.

PressRls – 16.9.2021