Author: Denis Tahiri
Since March 2020, when the alarm was raised about the Covid-19 pandemic, until the summer of 2021, the Ministry of Health has spent 4,435,924,919 lek excluding VAT on tenders. According to data collected by "Sinjalizo", while citizens were focused on avoiding infection, institutions were rushing to tender. Thus, from March 2020 to June 2021, 214 tenders were procured by health institutions , of which 193 were finalized.
"champion" ministry
The Ministry of Health and Social Protection holds the first place for the amount tendered during the pandemic, with a figure of 1,383,707,749 lek excluding VAT. In second place according to the tender database during the Covid-19 natural disaster period “Public contracts in a Covid-19 natural disaster situation - Strengthening Independent Monitoring Mechanisms”, is the “Mother Teresa” University Hospital Center, with a figure of 1,383,615,012 lek excluding VAT. Meanwhile, the “Shefqet Ndroqi” hospital, otherwise known as the Sanatorium, has spent 624,620,800 lek excluding VAT on tenders during Covid. The Ministry of Defense has not been absent from Covid-19 tenders, which have spent a full 141,585,500 lek excluding VAT.
20 million dollars of oxygen
33 contracts were carried out in total by 15 Albanian institutions during the pandemic just for oxygen. The two institutions that have made the largest purchases of oxygen are university hospitals. "Mother Teresa" University Hospital Center has tendered a value of ALL 1,097,252,839 without VAT. On the other hand, "Shefqet Ndroqi" University Hospital holds the second place by tendering oxygen with a value of ALL 454,605,500 without VAT. Meanwhile, the ranking is followed by the Hospital of Fier, that of Durrës, Kukës, Kavaja, Lushnja and Librazhd. In total, just for oxygen, Albanian institutions spent 2,114,242,355 ALL without VAT, or in other words, more than 20.5 million dollars. ($20).
But what stands out is the fact that the main beneficiary contractors for oxygen during Covid-19 are only two "GTS-GAZRA TEKNIKE SHKIPTARE" with 20 contracts and 1,951,569,887 profit value and "MESSER ALBAGAZ SHPK" with 9 contracts and 196,495,440 ALL profit .
Drugs without a cure
And while a clear cure for COVID-19 was something difficult to determine by medical institutions, tenders for various drugs were not spared. Only for medicines, 75 contracts were made. "Shefqet Ndroqi" University Hospital holds the largest share of contracts with a total of 66 such contracts, while the Ministry of Health has completed only 6. For these tenders, it is impossible to make a total calculation of the value that has been spent and will be spent for because most of them are framework agreements and the offer brought is based on the price per unit. Meanwhile, the companies that have benefited the most in these tenders are: Megapharma LLC which received 15 contracts, Rejsi Farma with 10 contracts, Edna Farma with 8 contracts, Aldosch Farma with 8, Trimed LLC with 8.
Also, tenders for the purchase of equipment were not missing either, where there was a high demand for respirators during the pandemic. On March 17, 2020, the Ministry of Health through direct procurement asked to purchase 54 respirators with a limited fund of 1.1 million euros (129 million ALL).
" The main criterion, according to the invitation to bid by the Ministry of Health, was the low price of the equipment. The unit price was more than 20 thousand euros, while the prices of ventilators in international markets range from 6000 to 50,000 euros. The classified secret contract was won by the company TBS 96, which has brought only 5 respirators out of 54 during 2020, while the obligation in the contract was 20 respirators within 7 days, while the contract with the company is still in force ," says a report by the organization "Together for Life". Meanwhile, Open Data reports that there is no official information about the costs for this contract, but in treasury payments there is a transaction worth 8 million lek.
Secret tenders and tenders with one bidder
15 contracts that have been classified as “secret” have been developed by two Albanian institutions during the pandemic. 14 of them bear the seal of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection and only one that of the Ministry of Justice. “ From March 2020 to May 2021, health institutions contracted 60 companies for material supplies related to COVID-19. 11 of the companies or 18% of the total contracts were secret. Also, 11 third contracts or 18% of the winning operators had only the unit price value and not the total amount ,” says the report recently published by “Together for Life”. The secret tenders from the description given ranged from the purchase of medicines and equipment to tenders for “paper products and the relocation of the dialysis system from the pediatrics of the QSUT specialties to the infectious hospital building in the QSUT”.
In the list of tenders there are also tenders whose object is the purchase of laboratory consumables for the PIH as well as the purchase of materials for personal protection against COVID-19. While it is difficult to find a reason why these tenders are classified as secret. This type of procedure was strongly criticized by the civil society, the media as well as by the opposition parties. Open Data Albania came out with a press release where it described this government procedure as unconstitutional, not legal, not legitimate and in violation of the basic principles of good governance.
The statement made in relation to two VKM, that no. 203, dated 26.02.2020 and that no. 242 dated 22.03.2020, clearly stated that not only articles of the public procurement law but also articles of the Albanian Constitution were violated.
“ The Constitution of the Republic of Albania in Article 118, point 2, provides that: “The law must authorize the issuance of sub-legal acts, determine the competent body, the issues to be regulated, as well as the principles on the basis of which these acts are issued”. Article 6 of the Public Procurement Law (on which the Council of Ministers relied for the issuance of this DCM) does not authorize the issuance of a Special Normative Act for secret contracts, contracts requiring special security measures and contracts dictated by essential state interests. DCM no. 203 has not defined the definition of the situation, circumstances, or cases when we are dealing with “essential state interests” but has left these circumstances to the assessment of the contracting authorities on a case-by-case basis ”, the statement said.
Agreements on vaccines
At the height of the pandemic, Albania signed four agreements for the supply of anti-covid vaccines. For none of these contracts, classified as secret, citizens did not know the cost they had for the state budget. Meanwhile, during the pandemic, classified secret tenders increased. The cost of some of these agreements can only be understood from budget changes or legal acts with economic effect of some institutions. The contract signed with the GAVI Alliance had a financial effect of 4,173,137 dollars, data that emerges from an announcement by the Ministry of Finance and Economy “ Budgetary support for the purchase of Anti-Covid 19 vaccines increases ”.
Another agreement for vaccines is with Pfizer export bv which has been reported in the media with a value of $5,995,080. $20,000,000 was also paid for the contract for vaccines with the company KEYMEN ILAC SANAYI VE TICARET ANONIM SIRKETI (Sinovac) . A figure which results from two payments according to VKM 174 dated 24.03.2021 and VKM No.357 dated 16.06.2021 . While there is no information about the agreement for PFIZER OVERSEAS LLC and Human Vaçine LLC (Sputnik V) .
But in the Ministry of Health, the problem does not lie only in secret tenders. According to the evaluation of OpenProcurement Albania, 55% of the tenders in the Health Sector are with only one operator in the competition. Often the authorities are excused that some suppliers have the exclusivity of a medication, but surprisingly for this exclusivity, no foreign competitor has appeared for a long time, even when the tender is open internationally.
On the other hand, 50% of the tenders carried out on the platform of Open Data Albania are considered red flag tenders. Meanwhile, 15% of procedures in health are canceled at least once, indicating a race defect.
An expert who requested anonymity told "Sinjalizo" that even when the tender is competitive, there have been cases where the lowest bids have been disqualified in favor of the highest bid. " The methods of disqualification are very diverse, with the most common being the lack of documentation , failure to meet technical specifications, and even failure to submit a bid."
What do experts say about secret tenders?
“Lack of efficiency”, is the first word that the director of Open Data Albania, Aranita Brahaj, says when asked about secret tenders. “ Lack of efficiency in tendering, both for the monetary value and for the possibility of finding a limited and very problematic commodity in time”, she adds. Aranita adds that in times of crisis, the possibilities for supplies are limited and characterized by dynamic changes. “Many are applying innovative forms to track and identify as quickly as possible the leading suppliers, who guarantee goods in the created situation. These suppliers cannot be tracked by governments by communicating with a single client without leaving any opportunity for presentation and participation”, she says, pointing out that this type of approach violates every principle of participation and competition, as well as violates public trust and accountability.
And while since March, the secret procedures in the health sector have stopped, this procedure has been embraced by other state sectors such as the Information Technology tenders which are being developed with a limited procedure and without notice, but also the tenders of the ministry and the defense sector . This leads to a lack of public control.
" The competition mechanism does not work in these procedures, because by not providing prior notice, the authority has avoided competition and the efficiency that comes from competition. Public control is lacking, the appeal mechanism is non-existent, and further, the assessment and punishment of possible cases of corruption here is a missing option," says Ms. Brahaj.
Zef Preçi, head of the Albanian Center for Economic Research, says that these types of tenders aim to show transparency.
" The use of secret tenders is a way to avoid transparency towards the public and to create corrupt favors on behalf of direct persons, their families, etc. ," he says, adding that: " there is a departure from the legal and constitutional concept of secrecy and some categories are introduced that are not legally sustainable, because for example, the purchase of sophisticated weapons is secret, this is a state secret and it is understandable, we have it foreseen in the legislation, but the publication of government decisions when it comes to direct procurement is not a secret. A concession agreement is not a secret."
Preçi adds that studies show that over the last 10 years there has been a clear trend of moving away from competition. " Over the last decade and especially over the last 5 years there has been a clear trend of moving away from competition, even when processes are competitive there are still deformations that lead to the winners being the operators who have the highest cost, closest to the limit fund ," he concludes.
