TI BiH filed a criminal complaint due to the procurement of the RS Institute of Public Health

Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) has filed a criminal complaint with the Banja Luka District Public Prosecutor’s Office against the management of the RS Institute of Public Health over disputed procurement of medical equipment from unqualified bidders.

Banja Luka, 30. May 2020 — Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) has filed a criminal complaint with the Banja Luka District Public Prosecutor’s Office against the management of the RS Institute of Public Health over disputed procurement of medical equipment from unqualified bidders. During April this year, the Institute procured medical protective masks from the company Procontrol from Banja Luka, which deals with architectural and engineering activities, as well as medical protective equipment from the travel agency Travel4Fun . Neither company has a license to trade in medical devices, although such a condition was required by the tender documentation submitted by the Institute to TIBIH. Notwithstanding these conditions, the Institute invited unqualified bidders to three separate negotiation procedures, which is why there are grounds for suspicion that the criminal offenses of Illegal Granting of Benefits to Business Entities and Unscrupulous Work in the Service were committed.

At the beginning of April, 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. In both procedures, the conditions were that the bidder was registered to perform activities, as well as that he had a license from the BiH Medicines Agency. Only this bidder was invited, although he did not have the permission of that Agency, and the Public Procurement Law clearly stipulates that the invitation could only be sent to a qualified bidder and that the conditions must be determined in advance. Both contracts were awarded to Procontrol, and a notice was published on the portal of the Public Procurement Agency 6. April. In the meantime, one contract of 1.65 million was terminated with the explanation that “Procontrol did not meet the delivery deadline”. The owner of Procontrol doo is one of the co-owners of the company “MMSCODE”, which won millions of jobs in the Republic of Srpska in the field of software services, and one of the recent contracts is the purchase of radar for the RS Ministry of Interior worth 10 million KM.

In almost the same case, criminal charges were filed for concluding a contract worth 2.38 million KM on the purchase of medical protective equipment with the travel agency Travel4Fun. The tender documentation in the possession of TI BIH also required the bidder to be registered for that activity and to have a license from the BiH Medicines Agency. TI BIH 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, which was published on the public procurement portal 29. April this . The Institute subsequently 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 on the public procurement portal.

A decision on that was published on the Institute’s website, which shows that the Institute’s actions were illegal. The document states that the invitation to participate in this procedure was sent only to the unqualified bidder Travel4Fun, and that at the meeting on the terms of the bid 10. April, the company Promeding also appeared. Article 28 The Law on Public Procurement explicitly prohibits such actions, because only bidders who have previously been determined to meet the conditions are invited to negotiate, so their appearance with a company that may have met the conditions at that time is irrelevant in this case. Moreover, it is indicative that Promeding doo is not mentioned in the decisions published on the public procurement portal from which the public learned about these cases, which is why there is a suspicion that it was subsequently stated to justify the conclusion of these contracts, which TI BiH also pointed out. in a criminal report.

Press rls – 30.5.2020.