Documentation related to the procurement and handling of 10.500 tons of wheat that the previous government imported from France and placed in silos in the Port of Bar will be handed over to the state prosecutor's office, while the conclusion of the contract on the transport service and new storage is expected in the first half of March.
This was announced by the "News" from the Ministry of Economic Development (MER).
"The Ministry of Economic Development, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, Human and Minority Rights, is continuously working on completing the documentation that will be submitted to the prosecutor's office for further action in accordance with the defined deadlines."
The former government bought 10.500 tons of French wheat at an allegedly higher price due to the corona virus epidemic, for a total of 2,4 million euros (or 229,23 euros per ton), and the complete procurement procedure as well as all relevant information regarding negotiations and purchases from of the company "Transgrain France SAS" was declared a secret. The new government removed the secrecy mark after previously obtaining the opinion of the Directorate for Data Secrecy. Wheat arrived in the Port of Bar in early May last year...
The MER said that a proposal for a decision on the formation of a working group has been prepared for the purpose of concluding a contract on wheat transport and storage services, which will collect bids according to the emergency procurement procedure, in accordance with the Law on Public Procurement.
"The working group consists of representatives of the Ministry of Economic Development, Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, Capital Investments and Finance and Social Welfare. Contracts for wheat transportation and wheat storage services will be concluded in the first half of March. After the implementation of the public procurement procedure, contracts for the transportation and storage of wheat will be signed with the selected bidders. The costs will be known when the public procurement procedure is completed.
The Minister of Economic Development, Jakov Milatović, announced at the end of last year that Montenegro was suffering damage due to the wheat that arrived from France at the beginning of May this year, because the state did not store it in appropriate conditions and silos, and that the silos in Bar are transit and do not have conditions for long-term storage. storage.
According to him, this resulted in the costs of "treating" stored grain from insects - weevils in the total amount of 20.000 euros (two times of 10.000 euros).
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Luka Bar, Milatović explained, issued an invoice to the state in the amount of 48.250 euros every month for more than half a year for the storage of grain in the transit silo, which means that on that basis alone, around 290 euros were additionally paid until the end of last year.
Former Minister of Economy Dragica Sekulić, whose department procured wheat on behalf of the Government, said that from the moment of procurement until the end of the mandate of the previous government, the secured commodity reserve was treated with protective measures twice, in accordance with all regulations and that they behaved responsibly towards the property. At the request of the Food Safety Administration, the Center for Ecotoxicological Testing conducted a laboratory test of wheat and issued a report on January 19 that the wheat meets the conditions prescribed in several ordinances and regulations related to food safety.
Sekulić: They are creating an affair out of a legitimate and honorable business
Yesterday, Sekulić told "Vijesti" that it is interesting that the new leadership of the Ministry is pretending to be investigative authorities in order to entertain the public.
"Believing in the professionalism of the really competent authorities, I draw attention to the fact that this is a completely unproductive engagement of employees, who at the moment have a much more important job than creating false affairs rather than a legitimate and honorable job. For the sake of efficiency, I suggest that they immediately transfer the complete archive of the Ministry to the prosecutor's office of their choice, so that they finally start doing something about the much-announced development of the state".
She added that if any prosecutor's office ever opens any case on any topic from the department she covered, as a responsible professional who did her job honestly and legally, never running away from any kind of responsibility and believing in the correctness of her decisions, that authority is available for all questions and concerns.
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