The State Audit Institution (DRI) found several irregularities concerning the decision of the Ministry of Economy to distribute 5.100 packages of foodstuffs to the citizens of Rožaj and Gusinje.
The auditors announced, among other things, that no evidence was attached about the distribution of packages to beneficiaries, that the question was why this Ministry, and not the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (MRSS), distributed aid, but also that the provisions of the Law on Public procurements.
"Vijesti" wrote that a month before the parliamentary elections in 2020, the Ministry secured packages worth more than a quarter of a million euros in order to mitigate the consequences of the coronavirus, that they were paid from the budget reserve, and that information was then declared a secret.
The Research Center of the Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS) believes that the findings of the SAI in connection with this case "only confirmed long-standing suspicions that the budget reserve was used as an ATM of the Democratic Party of Socialists".
"And that in the middle of the election campaign, and this is one of a series of examples that illustrate that the pandemic was also a useful cover for behind-the-scenes actions. Specifically, the distribution of material aid in the form of food packages, without clear criteria and information about who the aid ended up with, as well as the fact that the aid was distributed by the Ministry of Economy, and not the competent Ministry of Social Affairs, confirms the statements of MANS from the summer of 2020 that under the guise of social assistance, secretly financed from the budget reserve, voters were influenced," he said Lazar Grdinić for "Vijesti".
The then Minister of Economy Dragica Sekulić she told "Vijesti" that her department was not responsible for determining the number or distribution of packages, but only for their procurement.
"The purchased packets were made available to the then MRSS, which further distributed them to the centers for social work responsible for the mentioned municipalities, which distributed them to the citizens. According to the information at my disposal, in those centers there is an exact record to whom the packages were distributed, in accordance with the work policy of those centers (threatened categories of the population). I am sure that there was better communication between the SAI and the department in charge of social welfare issues in the previous Government, that the information I stated could have been supported by the documentation that exists in the archives of the Ministry and centers for social work", she said.
The member of the DPS clarified that within the then National Coordinating Body for Infectious Diseases (NKT) there was also the Operational Headquarters for Support to the Economy and Citizens, whose coordination was in charge of her department, to which, among other things, citizens directly addressed for help.
"In this sense, and with coordination and constant communication with the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, it was decided to help citizens who are socially vulnerable by delivering food packages and in this way enable them to function easier in life, in the same way as it is in the earlier period, it was also worked with other municipalities in Montenegro that were judged to need such measures. Considering that the Ministry of Economy coordinated the work of the Operational Headquarters, the public procurement was carried out in accordance with the Law on Public Procurement, through the expert services of the Ministry," she said.
The law stipulates that the negotiation procedure without prior publication of the invitation to tender can be carried out for the procurement of goods "to the extent that it is necessary, due to the extreme urgency caused by an event that the ordering party could not foresee, and which was not caused by the ordering party's actions, it is not possible to act within the deadlines prescribed for an open, limited or competitive procedure with negotiations''.
She added that the expert instruction of the Directorate for Public Procurement Policy of the Ministry of Finance stipulates that in the mentioned case it is not necessary for the contracting authority to obtain the opinion of the Ministry of Finance before starting this procedure.
"So, in accordance with the aforementioned provision of the Law and the instructions of the Ministry of Finance, in this particular case it was about the procurement of goods, foodstuffs in an emergency procedure, due to the circumstances caused by the coronavirus pandemic. I would like to point out that the NKT, in addition to its role of taking appropriate measures and activities to protect the citizens of Montenegro from the spread of the pandemic caused by the coronavirus, had a strong coordination between different departments - ministries, administrative bodies and other entities, with the aim of taking appropriate measures and activities to help citizens and economy", said Sekulić.
SAI determined that the tender documentation does not contain a clearly defined place of performance of the contract, that is, it is determined "in accordance with the needs of the client". The contract on the delivery of foodstuffs states the supplier's obligation to deliver packages to FCO Rožaje and Gusinje. The auditors recommended to the Ministry that the tender documentation it prepares contains a clearly defined place of execution of the contract so that, in accordance with it, the bidder is aware of all the costs he may incur.
The Ministry of Economy conducted the procurement procedure, concluded the contract and only after that demanded the use of budget reserve funds for payment on that basis. Therefore, during the period of implementation of the procurement, financial resources were not provided for the procurement in question.
The auditors recommended that the Ministry initiate the public procurement procedure only if it has secured financial resources for it. They also recommended that the Ministry exclusively carry out tasks within its competence in accordance with the Decree on the Organization and Mode of Operation of State Administration, while tasks within the competence of social and child protection are performed by other competent institutions.
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