SARAJEVO – The Prosecutor’s Office of Canton Sarajevo has received a submission from the Federation Prosecutor’s Office containing information about a multimillion scandal in the Health Insurance and Reinsurance Institute regarding the tender for dialyzers, learns Fokus.ba.
As confirmed by Azra Babić, the spokeswoman of the Canton Sarajevo Prosecutor’s Office, the case has been initiated and actions will be taken to investigate the allegations presented in the submission. The Federation Prosecutor’s Office has confirmed to Fokus that their submission to the Canton Sarajevo Prosecutor’s Office suggests an alleged years-long collusion between the company obstructing the tender and the manufacturing company. They also noted that the provided information suggests the inaction of certain competent authorities.
Move by the Federation Prosecutor’s Office
– On April 15, 2024, the Federation Prosecutor’s Office forwarded the submission to the Canton Sarajevo Prosecutor’s Office, as it holds both original and territorial jurisdiction to proceed with the matter. Additionally, suggestions were made for specific actions to be taken in order to investigate the allegations outlined in the submission – said the Federation Prosecutor’s Office for our portal.
Fokus.ba exposed his scandal in an investigative article published on February 11, 2022. As we reported at the time, the obstruction of tenders resulted in multimillion losses in the Federation, as the prices of certain models of dialyzers in FBiH were three times higher than in the countries such as Serbia and Croatia.
The tender was typically “locked” by the Institute itself, as the requirements imposed on potential bidders could only be fulfilled by specific wholesale pharmacies. In an article, published a year ago, the Federation Health Insurance Institute, which can be considered an accomplice in this story, began to level incriminating accusations against Fresenius Medical Care BiH. It was alleged that other companies, such as Melcom from Mostar, were selling dialyzers to the Federation Institute under the name of Fresenius Medical Care BiH at disproportionately high prices.
Government is being kept informed
Despite all of this, nothing has changed, as we reported in an article two weeks ago. Another tender for dialyzers was overturned on March 12 of this year. The Procurement Review Board has once again upheld the appeal filed by MGH Farm Kakanj, which has previously overturned this tender on several occasions.
For the eighth consecutive year, the Federation of BiH has not conducted a tender for these crucial dialysis consumables. Consequently, millions of BAM continue to be disbursed to the companies that were selected as suppliers up until 2016, the year of the last tender.
The current FBiH Government, led by Prime Minister Nermin Nikšić, along with the US Embassy to BiH, has been informed about this scandal. Medin Okić, director of the Sarajevo-based company CEE-MED, which deals with the marketing of medicinal products and equipment, had sent letters to them questioning how it is possible for a tender to be overturned eight times in the Procurement Review Board procedure. Specifically, he wonders why tender documents cannot be structured in such a way as to prevent such occurrences.