The pharmacy institution "Montefarm" renovated its vehicle fleet, not only for the needs of transporting medicines and medical supplies, but also for administration, so they bought four new passenger vehicles and a new jeep - a dry "Volvo" manufactured in 2017.
That institution has been in a bad financial situation for years, and at the end of last year the state's debt to "Montefarm" amounted to about 29 million euros.
The Union of Doctors of Medicine (SDM) claims that the purchase of cars and the renewal of the fleet should not be the number one priority of "Montefarm", while, on the other hand, key equipment for work is procured from donations.
From "Montefarm", however, they say that the previous vehicle fleet was outdated and that the main motive for its renewal was that the costs of fuel and maintenance on an annual level rose to 100.000 euros.
"At the end of 2021, in accordance with the analysis of the institution's business costs and rationalization, an expert assessment of the condition of the vehicles used for the sale of medicines and other goods from the subject of business was made, where it was established that the vehicle fleet is outdated to the extent that it requires the allocation of significant funds for repair and replacement parts and extremely high fuel consumption", they said.
"Montefarm" pointed out that the covid-19 pandemic also affected the state of the fleet, as it was constantly used for the transport of vaccines and biological medicines.
"Also, the enormous jump in fuel prices and the uncertainty of the overall market in Europe and the world, as well as the necessity of introducing GDP (Good Distribution Practices) into the operations of the 'Montefarm' warehouse in accordance with the requirements of the EU directives, where certain conditions must be met, including the state vehicles that are used to transport medicines and medical devices", they said from this institution.
It is from SDM that they claim that the certificate of good distributive practice should be the priority of this institution, which is also their legal obligation.
"Selling or replacing the fleet, which was innovated not so long ago, is not the number one priority of 'Montefarma'." While the key equipment for the work of the national wholesaler, such as a cold room for storing vaccines and medicines in a regulated temperature regime, is obtained from donations, we consider it irrational to restore the fleet. The priority of 'Montefarm' must be obtaining the GDP certificate, which is also a legal obligation of the institution", writes SDM in the answer.
"Montefarm" replied to "Vijesta" that for the purpose of transporting medicines and medical devices, four new vans of the "Pežo" brand have been acquired, two of which are equipped with thermoking, i.e. a temperature of 2-8 Celsius for the needs of the "cold chain", three new "Fiat" pick-up vehicles and a six-ton IVECO truck, used and nine years old.
They explained that four new hybrid passenger vehicles and one dry "Volvo" vehicle from 2017 were purchased for administration purposes.
In "Montefarm" they claim that they presented all the facts regarding the condition of the vehicle fleet to the board of directors at the session at the end of last year, with a tabular representation where the condition and year of production of all vehicles were made available for inspection. They said that all the transport vehicles were manufactured from 2001 to 2011, and the cars for administration purposes from 2004 to 2014.
They also explained that after reviewing the complete documentation, the board of directors unanimously accepted the proposal to find the best vehicle procurement model.
"The next step taken by 'Montefarm' concerned the examination of the car market and offers in Montenegro. On that occasion, it was determined that it is extremely difficult to obtain vehicles within a reasonable period of time, where their deadlines range up to 420 days, and there were realistic announcements of significant price increases for both new and used cars. After the collected information, we turned to the Ministry of Health for the necessary consent to amend the public procurement plan in order to provide funds and start the procurement process. An open public procurement procedure No. 320/1-1422 was announced on April 19.04.2022, XNUMX. and only one bidder responded to all the required conditions, because most of them did not guarantee the delivery time due to the current situation of the European market", they announced from this institution.
"Montefarm" said that on May 10, after the procedure was completed, a contract was signed with the company "Prokom doo" through financial leasing under the "old for new" system with an additional payment.
"The value is EUR 417.950,83, reduced by EUR 44.505,44 ("old for new"), and funds were finally allocated in the amount of EUR 350.935,19, which will be reduced due to the VAT refund on trucks, depending on the category ", he wrote in the answer.
They also concluded that they will pay for the cars from the funds of the institution, in equal monthly installments over the next four years, where the savings on constant repairs and fuel consumption of old vehicles "will largely replace the monthly installment."
The state owes them 29,3 million for medicines
According to Montefarm on December 31, 12, the debt of the state, i.e. the Health Fund, amounted to around 2021 million euros for medicines and medical devices, "Vijesti" learns.
About 12,7 million were due for payment by the end of the year, while about 16,6 million were still due.
Director of "Montefarm" Goran Marinović in an interview with "Vijesta" at the beginning of the year, he said that they finished the previous year on a positive note and that the state, that is, the Fund, owed them 28 million euros.
He claimed that the institution was organizationally and technically quite devastated, and that the pandemic led to an additional deterioration of affairs, explaining, among other things, that the consumption of medicines grew by up to 300 percent.
The total debt of that institution to suppliers a year ago was 29,5 million, of which claims against the Fund amounted to 19 million.
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