Hajdari ministry does not replace medicines over-term on state reserves

In the event of a food crisis, Kosovo citizens may also have hopes in the state reserve grain, but in the event of a disaster or war, they cannot count on essential drugs that are guarded by the state for difficult days.

That's because the Ministry of Industry, Intervention and Trade, led by Roseta Hajdari, has not replaced state reserve drugs that have expired.

AP sources within Kosovo institutions have shown medicines not replaced as defined The Law on State Reserves.

At Article 3, the definitions, point 1.8 predicts that the reserve drugs should be replaced before the expiration deadline. The deadline has passed the weather, but essential drugs have not been replaced.

“Replacing state reserves of goods for products, essential list of drugs ahead of schedule“, says the Law for State Reserves of Goods.

According to sources, drugs have long not been replaced, just as other essential products are replaced. The state reserve preserves wheat, agro-food goods, oil, essential drugs, and so on.

Article 12 of this law stipulates that state goods reserves are made up of basic agricultural products, including meat in living animals and industrial food products; then not industrial food products, raw materials, production, oil and derivatives of goods, drugs, sanitation materials, and medicino-verine tools necessary for transport of goods of special interest to the state.

The law defines through this article that part of the reserves are monetary tools and machinery, as well as other emergency intervention devices.

This scandal of not replacing drugs in the State Reserve comes at a time when MINT is involved in others as a lack of wheat in reserves, as the Polish company which the government has paid did not bring the goods despite accepting the money.

National media also reported that about 300 thousand liters of oil reserves that had been ordered to Poland have failed, even though they were paid.

These budget irregularities are also being investigated by Kosovo Police, responsible for the economic crimes that have interviewed officials of the Department of Reserves and Finance at MINT.

The whole scandal begins with a Kosovo Government decision signed by Prime Minister Albin Kurti, who had allocated 10m euros for the purchase of state reserves, avoiding procurement procedures, thus enabling goods to be bought with negotiation.

But the state stocking law does not justify Prime Minister Kurti's decision to buy goods without procurement procedures.

Any purchase should be made through the Public Procure Law (LPP), otherwise the action is legal violation.

By Article 19 of the Law for State Reserves Determinesing the supply procedures for goods, the Department of State stock goods through public procurement procedures provides goods that are envisioned with a (1) year-old programme.

While Article 20 shows how purchase, sale and borrowing state goods reserves are made, says that “the purchase of every article of state reserves of goods under this law should be specified specifically in the relevant annual law on budgetary divisions”.

In addition, any procurement activity for the purchase of these articles should be done through open procurement procedures defined in the Public Procurement Law”.

“If the procurement contract is of great value, the announcement of the contract is published in accordance with the Public Procurement Law and in English in a prestigious international newspaper or magazine“, says the law, which is not respected by the Government nor by MINT.

The ministry every time asked for the State Reserve does not speak out in silence because reserves are state secret, but secret is only the location and quantity, not even the process of buying these goods.