The tender for the purchase of materials, DP: This is how the Deputy Minister of Education received it without competition from the Ministry of Defense

The speaker of PD Genta Vangjeli denounced today how the company of the family of the Deputy Minister of Education, Albana Tole, where she is a shareholder, has benefited from a tender without competition from the Ministry of Defense. It is about a tender announced on July 3 of this year for "Purchase of materials for genius", which has cost the state budget 64.342 million ALL (new).

Vangjeli, in an appearance for the media, stated that the tender in question was made without competition, adding that the winner was predetermined. She said that the Ministry of Defense with its actions creates conditions to suspect that the competition is artificially narrowed in opposition to the law on public procurement, while Albana Tole, Deputy Minister of Education, is in front of her. The latter was appointed to this position on November 3, 2021.

From the research in the CKB for the company "Tirana Due shpk", it turns out that the deputy minister is a 15% shareholder, while her father has 70% of the shares and her sister, 15%. The contract in question, according to the tender made public in the Public Procurement Agency, ends on December 31 of this year.

The tender

The tender with the object "Purchase of materials for genius (elements for Bailey bridges)", was published on July 3 in the system of the Public Procurement Agency. As can be seen in the documents, with the said fund, materials are being purchased to build metal bridges, specifically: rods, screwdrivers, nails and others, while it is planned to spend 666 million ALL.

As explained in the official documents, only the union of operators "TIRANA DUE shpk" and "3A - PROFILE" shpk submitted an offer for this tender. Their offer was at the level of 64.342 million ALL, i.e. almost 90% of the limit fund.

Denunciation of DP

Genta Vangjeli started the statement from the blue headquarters by clarifying that in bulletin no. 60, July 3, 2023, the Ministry of Defense announced the winner of the tender with the object "Purchase of materials for genius", with a fund of 66.6 million lek, the union of operators of which the company "Tirana" is a part Due shpk.

"For this procedure, the fact that only 1 offer was submitted is striking, creating reasonable doubts that the qualifying criteria and technical specifications in the tender documents are drawn up in such a way as to predetermine the announced winner. The Ministry of Defense with its actions creates conditions to suspect that competition is artificially narrowed in violation of at least Article 2 and 3 of Law No. 162/2020 on public procurement, which provides for: c) encouraging the participation of economic operators in public procurement procedures; ç) promotion of competition between economic operators; The Ministry of Defense for this procedure announced the winner of the sole bidder worth 64.3 million lek or almost 97% of the limit fund. We inform the public that in active ownership of the shares of this company, the owner with 15% vice. Minister of Education Albana Tole in this position from November 2021. Was the Contracting Authority that announced the winner for the above procurement aware of this fact? From the transactions of the Treasury, it results that during 2022 and 2023 Tirana Due shpk, where the deputy minister is also an active owner, benefited from 555,306,360 million old lek, all from the Ministry of Defense (Military Department No. 4300 Tirana)", she said. .

He further added:

"Article 27 points B and C of Law No. 9367 ON THE PREVENTION OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST IN THE EXERCISE OF PUBLIC FUNCTIONS says: The Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister and Deputy Minister: b) cannot exercise private activity, which creates income in the form of a person natural commercial person, partnership of natural commercial persons of any form c) cannot actively own shares or parts of the capital of a commercial company, regardless of its field of activity".

"How then can the owner of the commercial company Tirana Due shpk exercise a state duty? Ms. Before assuming the position of deputy minister, Tole should either have been expelled from the commercial company or refused the state job. What can the government ask from others in terms of standards, when high officials are the first to not implement the legal provisions, but benefit as much and as much as they can from the influence of the public function they exercise. Deputy the Ministry of Education should immediately resign from public office and return the value of 555,306,360 million old lek, benefited from the company in which it is an active part as a shareholder. The formula "do as we say, but don't do as we do" is a slogan of thieves, not citizens", she concluded.