RTK Song Festival: MAKE of procurement and management of wealth

Key Finders

ZKA auditors have found some procurement irregularities related to the second edition of the Song Festival, such as using negotiated procedures without publication, without sufficient legal justification. This includes contracts for graphic design and car exploitation, affecting competitiveness and transparency.

Also, according to the report, RTK had applied discrimination criteria in the tender file, excluding local operators from the race for the Song Festival.

During the year, 2024 RTK was contracting using the negotiated procedure without publication for linking a contract to “The realisation of design and graphics for the RTK 2024” Festival worth 10.1$150 with a company from Albania, without clearly documenting the legal argument for avoiding publication and competition. No emergency situations, no circumstances that made it impossible to implement other open or limited procedures, as required by the Public Procurement Law “is concluded in the report.

But remarks have also been given to the issue of cars. “also, RTK had failed to make long-term or long-term solutions to exploit cars for RTK's needs, even though there was a public contract for 60 months. After the end of this contract, he had used negotiated procedure for the contract, the short-term use of cars for RTK's needs, worth 33.900$”, said the report.

Regarding the company's contracting issue for graphic design from Albania, the report cites the decision approved by Albania's deputy general director. RTK's Adrian Krasta for the start of this procedure, where she reasoned: “... the lack of profiled staff for graphic design has demonstrated the need for the song festival to be engaged in services from outside RTK. On the other hand, short-term car exploitation was due to inadequate management and lack of planning for these” services is found in the report.

Another disturbing problem, according to the ZKA, is the continuation of contracts with compensation for advertising spaces contrary to the marketing regulation, despite repeated recommendations from preliminary auditing.

Moreover, the question of ownership of the building where RTK operates remains unresolved, creating uncertainty and danger for the public broadcaster's future.

References

The ZKA has provided five concrete recommendations, including avoiding the use of closed procurement procedures, eliminating discrimination criteria, respecting marketing regulations, resolving RTK's property status and improving supply planning to avoid repeated small purchases.

Progress in Applying recommendations

RTK has implemented 5 out of the 7 recommendations in the preceding year, showing improvement in several areas, especially in preparing financial mirrors. But some structural problems such as lack of internal control and poor planning remain the challenges to governing this public institution.

After publishing this report, the former Director General of the Institute, Shkumbin Ahmetxekaj, who had resigned from office in July 2024 because of political pressures as he said. He has said improving RTK's financial management is the result of his commitment and trusted associates.

“In 2022 The National Auditing Office had released the report for RTK, where he had given the opposite opinion of financial mirrors. During 2022 and 2023, we applied most of the recommendations, first getting qualified opinion (intermediate opinion) and now in our latest 2024 report, ZKA has given unmodified opinion (positive performance). I'm glad that the maximum commitment and commitment with reliable collaborators over 30 months at RTK management is leaving a trace on public broadcaster's financial management. This is evidence that accounting and spending public money was priority” wrote Ahmetxekaj in his Facebook account.

During 2024, RTK has gone through various crises, starting with the resignation of former director Ahmetxaj, then the resignation of director Zana Spahiu and three board members: Faithful Boletini, Arta Berisha, Safet Kabashaj, following scandal with Slobodna Bosna and then the resignation of Adrian Krastta, who was deputy director general and leads RTK until the end of the Song Festival, where the festival itself was director. /Periscope/

KKA's full report: THESE