Procurement in the Ministry of Health, Not healthy

Prishtina, October 2, 2011 – Movement FOL, held a press conference on the occasion of the withdrawal from the Memorandum of Well-Understanding for monitoring the procurement procedures in the Ministry of Health, signed between Movement FOL and Ministry of Health on June 10, 2011 and the publication of a report on abuses in the procurement of this ministry. The reason for the withdrawal of Movement FOL from this memorandum was that this ministry, respectively the procurement office did not respect the agreement.

Program manager, Fidan Kalaja said, “Although movement FOL has tried consistently through constant communication, meeting twice with Minister Mr. Agani and informing him about the situation, it was impossible to succeed. Worse than that the minister did not answer about the concerns, doubts and facts that Movement FOL has addressed on its report about abuses that happened and are happening with this ministry tenders.”

According to Mr. Kalaja, “‘Occupation’ and ‘ownership’ of the Ministry of Health by the Secretary General Mr. Ilir Tolaj, through the chief of procurement Mr. Zenel Kuci, made this memorandum impossible to work by closing and isolating, non-transparency of procurement procedures in order to allow the continuation of chronic misuse of public money of the citizens of Kosovo, even risking their health through the bad qualitative and expired products.”
Mr. Kalaja concluded that “the attempt to use this memorandum to public opinion pretending that the Ministry of Health develops transparent and accountable procurement procedures deceiving citizens, media and civil society, today FOL Movement ends this agreement by providing and ensuring that FOL has continuously monitored this institution by preparing investigative researches regarding irregularities and misuses conducted by this ministry during the award of tenders and implementation of public contracts.

Project Manager, Armend Pajaziti, briefly presented the string of abuses that occurred in this ministry in 2011. He said that “management of drugs storage is made by company” Rimed “, which also participates in other tenders, which clearly presents conflict of interest. According to the information it is said that drugs are not managed well by this company and it is suspected that along with officials from the MH and other institutions, they false documents relating to the receipt / delivery of drugs, either when entering the store, or even when going from the store. “He further added that, “MH has awarded tenders even to high officials of this ministry, as it is the case with Mr. Hajrullah Fejza, who allegedly is involved in most of the frauds in the tenders of the MH and now he is known as “the merchant of tenders “. Although the Auditor General has noted that certain companies have supplied the MH with expired medicines, according to Armend Pajaziti the latter “has continued to reward the same company this year by further harming the state budget.”

Movement FOL will continue monitoring the procurement procedures of this ministry by undertaking and implementing such researches, will publish any misuse to be found and will be taken other steps to minimize these abuses.