E KUNDAY: 7500 euro contract for Gani Jakup, clarified step by step for Periscope from INPO

Shit.

Periscope days ago, Report exclusively for a contract which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the Kosovo Embassy in Brussels, has linked to a person called Gani Jakupi and paid 7,500 euros a month.

The news that made a big fuss in our country and caused Minister Donika Grovall to face questions about it at the Parliamentary Commission, as well as similar reactions from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

So why did Minister Gervala call this contract a project if we refer to the documents we have published to support this article, in no single word or sentence, no mention of the word "project."

Periscope has requested clarification on the procedural side of this contract, from the INPO (Progress Initiative). 

Two are the main explanations that we would set out at the start of this article.

First, that contract. MPJ ) Kosovo Embassy in Brussels  turns out to be illegal And second, the fact that for such a conspiracy, There would be no need for contracting such a consultant, since jobs described in the contract could be carried out by staff of every Kosovo Embassy around the world.

“In the case of the contract in question, the minister through the decision has borne responsibility to the Ambdassadore of the Republic of Kosovo in Brussels to engage an foreign consultant through negotiation. Whenever diplomatic missions or embassies develop procurement activities, this is not done through the electronic platform of public procurement in Kosovo, since the embassies of Kosovo abroad are not contracting authorities, as I mentioned the Middle and Large value procurement for embassies' needs and the MPJ develops.

Yet, despite not being published through the electronic platform of public procurement, they are obliged to follow general rules and principles of procurement, such as equal treatment of economic operators, non-discrimination, the preservation of the value for money, transparency and, above all, implementation of procurement rules, including the definition of subject or nature of procurement, selection of procedure and use of criteria in the country's” report, the INPO executive director told us. Mrs. Albule Nocaj.

The Noceya from INPO, further explains that The Law on Procurement does not provide such a procedure for a consultant.

Welcome the Procure Law does not envision contracting consultants through negotiated procedure without publishing the contract except if the consultant for offered services possesses any copyright or license or exclusive license. The Diplomatic Mission. The consul can link high-value and large contracts whenever authorised by the MPB minister through limited procedures only for (i) the purchase of the mission's vehicles, (ii) the mission staff health insurance (ii) the renewal and adaptations of mission objects, and (iv) the provision of mission facilities. In this sense, the engagement of consultants through negotiation procedure without the publication of the contract announcement is illegal, he says. Mrs. Note Periscope.

“Contacting individual consultants is done through initial proceedings with the LPP, through public contract for services using the “most favourable economically favoured” criterion where depending on the type of procedure and the value of the contract is also determined as to hand over bids, which in case of contract in question the ambassador had to consider these rules when launching the contracting procedure of consultant services”, say INPO.

According to INPO, the services that are envisioned in the contract that Periscope has reported exclusively do not need a special consensus, as those authorities would have to carry out their own embassy staff.

“The services outlined in this contract, for which Kosovo's budget costs 90 thousand euros for meetings with cultural institutions in Benelux states, are within the embassy's functions in those states. As a result, these services would have to be performed by the diplomatic service staff itself. Even for the realisation of information and cultural character meetings, there is no need for any kind of extenuation”, Noceaj says.

Thus, MPJ should urgently inform the public about the purpose of this contract and the results or institutional objectives that will be fulfilled through it, since this contract has not even been planned in the MPJ procurement plan for 2023<1>, the INPO says.

On November 21, 2023, Periscope reported Of course, Gani Jakupi receives 7,500 euros a month's salary from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Donika Gervala. He lives in Spain but is engaged by Kosovo's ambassador to Brussels, Agron Bajrami, as foreign adviser for cultural and media issues.

Three days, there would be total silence on the part of the country's institutions over the scandal, even though it was the most controversial topic in public opinion.

But three days later, as Foreign Minister Donika Grovalla reported to the Parliamentary Commission, he was asked about the subject and said that This is a very modest one for a person like Mr. Gani Jakupi.

In terms of cultural diplomacy and our efforts to create another environment in non-conventional countries, as minister uses all instruments, of course while saving the budget, it is difficult to find cultural personalities that, with a modest amount that does not exceed a host diplomat. All who try to denigrate their personality as in the case of Gani Jakup. This is not pay, it is a project linked to clear targets serving the Republic of Kosovo. I'm very proud that with this very modest, which is not a monthly salary, but which includes a year-old project, Gervala said, I follow Periscope.

Donika Gervala for Gani Jakup's 7,500-euro salary: Very modest.