The total debt owed to "Montefarm" by public health institutions, the Health Insurance Fund and the Ministry of Finance, as of July 31, amounts to a total of 72.924.274,56 euros.
This was announced by that institution on the occasion of, as they state, increasingly frequent questions about occasional problems in the procurement and distribution of medicines, especially when it comes to therapy intended for oncology patients.
They explained that "Montefarm" does not have the ability to plan the actual quantities needed by public health institutions, then to influence the payment of the planned funds, nor the funds intended to cover multi-year inherited debts, but that the institutions whose competence is at the state level are responsible for their continuous inflow.
"Montefarm", as they said, has the task of providing the citizens with the necessary medicines and medical supplies, providing them with an adequate, safe and efficient pharmaceutical service, but they say that this is impossible without regular financial payments from the state.
"According to the Law on Public Procurement and its provisions, Montefarm procurement procedures are initiated at the moment when, in addition to the legal requirements, funds are also provided to guarantee payment to all suppliers. Budgetary funds intended for the procurement of medicines for the needs of the public health system are determined by the Health Insurance Fund , and makes a payment to Montefarm, which then pays the due obligations on a monthly basis, depending on how they arrive for collection, which is regulated by signing contracts with first-ranked suppliers.
"Given that the FZOCG has been directly dependent on the Ministry of Finance, i.e. the State Treasury, for years, and after the recent abolition of the contribution to healthcare, the said Institution has absolutely lost its financial independence, therefore it is not able to respond to the claims that Montefarm demands at the given moment" , the announcement states.
They emphasize that it is precisely in these situations that key problems arise - the continuity of the payment of allocated funds to "Montefarm" does not have the dynamics that is necessary, although, as they state, that institution warns the competent institutions at the state level in time, long before the stocks of drugs and medical equipment are at minimum.
"Montefarm" points out that the subject of public health financing is a multi-year problem, and that debts from previous periods constantly complicate their operations and therefore slow down the timely, quantitatively sufficient procurement and distribution of medicines and medical devices, complicate cooperation with suppliers, "and the end result is dissatisfied and threatened citizen".
They submitted for inspection the claims of "Montefarm", i.e. the debts of JZU, FZO and the Ministry of Finance based on last year's Government Conclusion No. 04-5486/2 of November 12, 2021 on the expansion of the Plan for public procurement of medicines.
According to their data, the debt of JZU amounts to EUR 2.897.051,60, the debt of FZO EUR 26.867.171,92, and the debt based on the extension of the Plan for Public Procurement of Medicines EUR 43.160.051,04, i.e. - the total debt to "Montefarm" amounts to EUR 72.924.274,56 .XNUMX euros.
They also emphasize that "Montefarm" has still not received payments from the State Treasury based on the aforementioned Government Conclusion, even though that institution, relying on the allocated funds, issued tenders and procured medicines and medical supplies for the needs of citizens until April of this year. The purchase was made, the medicines were used up to the specified period, while the financial realization according to this decision by the state was absent, Montefarm points out.
"From all of the above, it is quite clear why drug deliveries are occasionally delayed, both to public health institutions and pharmacies that operate in our composition, despite timely assessments," the statement added.
A special problem, they point out, is the planned quantities that had to be included in the allocated budget funds, even though all JZUs "expressed significantly greater needs than those that are available to the health sector according to the available finances".
"To summarize, Montefarm does not have the ability to plan the actual quantities needed by public health institutions, then to influence the payment of planned funds, nor the funds intended to cover multi-year inherited debts, but the institutions whose jurisdiction is at the state level are responsible for their continuous inflow.
"Therefore, it is important that the citizens of Montenegro, our colleagues from all JZUs, as well as media representatives who ask on behalf of the citizens, accept the fact: Montefarm has existed for 31 years and has the task of providing citizens with the necessary drugs and medical equipment, providing them with adequate, safe and efficient pharmaceutical service, which is impossible without regular financial payments from the state," the announcement concludes.
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