Regarding the activities of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) in the premises of the RS Health Insurance Fund (HIF) and the company “Medietik” conducted this morning in Banja Luka, Transparency International in BiH reminds the public that as early as June 2020, it warned about non-transparent procurements during the COVID pandemic conducted by this Fund and other public bodies in BiH.
At that time, the RS HIF awarded 4 contracts worth over 21.7 million KM to the company Medietik d.o.o., exempting the procedures from the application of the Public Procurement Law, meaning without any public tender, competition, or process that ensures competition or transparency.
The company Medietik procured ventilators for 2.1 million KM, masks and gloves for 1.8 million, consumable medical materials for preventing the spread of coronavirus for 10.9 million KM, and intensive care ventilators with a contract worth 6.7. Additionally, on the same day, the HIF awarded contracts to the company Krajinagroup d.o.o. for 2.5 million 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.
In this way, the RS HIF awarded over 21.7 million KM in one day, and an additional contract worth over 13 million KM was subsequently concluded with the company Medietik, exempting the Public Procurement Law, contrary to the interpretation of the Public Procurement Agency, which stipulates that exemption can only be applied in cases of extreme urgency, i.e., when it is necessary to react within a few hours.
Transparency International in BiH previously warned about the harmfulness and illegality of such a method of procuring medical materials, and the fact that it took the authorities more than 4 years to act sends a worrying message about the efficiency and readiness of institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina to address the lack of transparency and obvious abuses in the spending of public funds.
