The National Media Top Channel has launched one of its news editions in July 2021 with the title: Vetting for Public Tenders. Corruption in Tenders and Procurement has been a very sensitive aspect of the Political and Public Debate for weeks before the beginning of the Third Mandate of the ruling Socialist Party led by Edi Rama.

Transcript of the interview:

Journalist: The biggest weaknesses of the public procurement system, which even the frequent legislative changes do not seem to be able to solve, are the main cause of abuse with tenders. The expert of this field, Aranita Brahaj, explains that legislation leaves significant room for violations and what is most problematic is the contracts signed by circumventing the procurement system. What is a concern now, she adds, is the tender procedures for reconstruction.

Aranita Brahaj: Contracting through special laws or contracting on basis circumventing legislation on public procurement are the largest malfunctions. While a tender may have irregularities and problematic criteria, the way these contracts are made are not subject to any system in charge of monitoring the process before the call for tender is about to be published. The Public Procurement Agency does not have anyone in charge of monitoring these specific tenders either. There is no system in place to provide a lawyer’s evaluation of public procurement. The level of risk and corruption in a system relying only on an automated evaluation of 3 or 4 indicators is very high.

Journalist: Even though a new law on public procurement entered into force since January this year, Brahaj argues that this law does not put an end to the chain of abuse. She proposes a deep public procurement reform.

Aranita Brahaj: We should start with those responsible for making special laws. A control mechanism should function at the Public Procurement Agency. So, we need an evaluation system in place for the public procurement employees, an automatic system. Once they reach a certain margin of error, they should lose their right to exercise their function.

Journalist: Only a few days ago, PM Edi Rama, admitting problems with the tenders, said that some of the institutions did not take into consideration the recommendations of the Public Procurement Agency.

Link to the interview : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJzce6_V1oE

The Informative Edition of the Voice of America broadcast on Friday, June 9, a chronicle on the Albanian Government’s Position on Corruption in Public Tenders. After several arrests of senior officials, Prime Minister Rama in a meeting with mayors raised the issue of Local Government performance in relation to tenders as problematic for corruption. VOA asked the director of Open Data Albania for a comment. Since 2015, this organization provides well-structured data and risk assessment for clientelism and corruption with tenders of important public sectors.

Article below:

 

In Tirana, Prime Minister Edi Rama called on mayors to end corrupt practices with tenders and procurement, so that they do not become subject to SPAK investigations, as the mayor of Lushnja. While the monitoring organization Open Data Albania told VOA that the government and its agencies are on the top as the most suspected of corruption and clientelism, especially in the sectors of Health, Roads, and Reconstruction.

A few days after the arrest of the mayor of Lushnja and other employees from SPAK for abuse of tenders, Prime Minister Edi Rama held a meeting with mayors and called on them to comply with the law, so that they do not become subject to investigations by the special anti-corruption office.

Mr. Rama said that the criteria introduced purposefully in tenders as “customized suits for the winners” and the lack of competition are a phenomenon that must come to an end along with bribery and corruption in local government.

He said that the municipalities have been indifferent to requests to improve their work, even when they have had advice from the procurement agency.

“88.5% of the procedures have resulted in problems with how the criteria are drafted, and the relevant municipalities have been given precise recommendations by the Public Procurement Agency. 52.5% of the municipalities did not react and did not any reflection any of such technical recommendations in their procurement processes. The ‘hand-made sewing of the tender procedure’ directly affects the degree of participation, competition, and fairness of public operators. It is a predatory, ugly, and exclusion technique” – said Mr. Rama.

Prime Minister Rama said that there is a red line between personal and party acquaintances and lawbreakers, so mayors should rather not interfere with public procurement, and not play with a fire that will become more and more scorching.

But the monitoring organization Open Data Albania told VOA that municipalities are not the most problematic when it comes to abusive tenders, compared to others.

The head of the organization Open Data Albania, Aranita Brahaj, asked by VOA, stated that central government tenders are much more problematic than those of the municipalities in terms of lack of competition, repeated cancellations, negotiations, and non-compliance with deadlines.

It is true that municipalities have a 30% level of tenders with risk of corruption and abuse, but municipalities are not the most problematic sector. According to Open Data, the same methodology indicates that 40% of tenders in the Health sector are found to be exposed to a high risk of corruption and clientelism.

There are also tenders of the Road Authority or the Albanian Development Fund, which are characterized by the concentration of funds in a few businesses.

“These tenders include disqualification of operators that offer lower values, leading to high bids winners” – states Open Data.

Problems and major defects are also identified with the earthquake reconstruction fund , where in the second year, after the disaster, billions of Albanian leke were used by signing contracts through limited procedures, without bidding, and within deadlines of only 10 days for operators to express their interest.

“Although this involves high values, no foreign companies come on the scene, money is concentrated in a few hands and the lack of competition is established by law, as the government applies the Normative Act of December 2019, bypassing the procurement legislation” – says Ms. Brahaj. the director of Open Data.

The State of Natural Disaster has ended as a status quo, but the Normative Act continues to be used, she stressed. The values of tenders are concentrated in a few businesses, foreign companies are reluctant to participate in competitions, notes the organization Open Data Albania.