The Podujevo municipality violates the Public Procure Law, deals with the most expensive companies

The Podujevo municipality has violated the Public Procurement Law in the past year by awarded a tender to the most expensive companies.

The National Audition Office has found that for the tender “The setting up of the Llap- pre-resistent” river bed has been eliminated for lack of reference for similar work in the last three years, even though it has had the list of projects on file along with signed contracts. The municipality had not requested information or documents explaining the tender. The eliminated company's offer was 136,666 euros, while the contract signed with the company was 159,751 euros, or 23,085 euros larger. According to the audience, the commission was unaware that they could request additional information or documents.

“According to Article 39 of the Rules and Operations Guides for Public Procurement Point 3, it is permitted for a contracting authority to request and obtain information or documents that are missing on app/tender”, the Auditor Report says on this violation of the Podujevo Commission's procurement office, writes news.

The National Auditing Office has released the Auditing Report on the Podujevo Community for the Financial Year, completed on December 31, 2018.

The audience has found that at another tender, the tender assessment commission has not noticed some arithmetic errors that have resulted in the contract being rewarded with the most expensive bidding.

“According to the law, The Accounting Authority must improve full arithmetic errors in the tender if such errors are revealed during the tender examination, however, no more than two percent of the total value of the offer. In the procurement procedure “the renovation of several school objects” worth 112,545 euros, the winning economic operator had made arithmetic mistakes in the tender worth 1,700 euros. If the error was identified by the tender assessment commission, then the contract would have to be granted to responsible OE, ranked number two at the total price of 113,832 euros”, the audience report said.

The audience has shown the danger that failure to comply with the legal provisions of public procurement could annul procurement procedures and projects could remain unfinished, could also cause financial losses to the municipality. Therefore, according to the audience, the chairman should ensure that the tender assessment commission makes complete examination of the bids, and where arithmetic errors or the need for other clarifications by OE, inform them by making the necessary changes within the allowed limits.

Other violations of the procurement Law have been observed in the auditing of the financial mirrors in this municipality. One case involves continuing the contract without procurement procedures.

Under the rules and Public Procure Guide, a contract cannot be continued, renewed, or forwarded by a subsequent contract without new procedure management. The Podujevo municipality in November 2017 had signed the contract for supply of wood worth 9,575 euros, with a 10 - day extension, arguing that it would use the contract to be connected by the Central Procurement Agency. “Forwards this reasoning and delays in developing the procedure for the new contract, following the expiration of the upper contract the municipality had continued the same contract indefinitely, bypassing the public procurement law. From this continuation of the contract, in 2018 the municipality had made purchases worth 85,217. According to the municipality, the emergency heating need in Podujevo schools has prompted the contract to be continued this way”, the audit report says.

According to the ZKA as a result of failing to comply with the procurement law in emergency cases such as prosecuted and negotiated or urgent, it may be that wood supplies are at higher prices, because it has failed to enable price negotiations, or accept new offers from potential competitors.

The audience found more violations in this municipality.