NEW SCANDAL/ "Tenders open for 40 million euros", 2,400 euros to dress 1 policeman and 3,900 euros for 1 guard?!

Two tenders worth a total of 40 million euros have been opened by the Centralized Purchasing Operator in recent days.

The aim is to purchase uniforms for the State Police and the Prisons Directorate.

This time, the procedures were carried out by the OBP, an institution directly subordinate to the Prime Minister's Office, as the police and prison procedures were investigated by the Special Prosecution for serious abuses.

There have even been arrests and proceedings.

But, it seems that finances have fallen from "rain to hail." With a sudden decision, this Operator has increased the costs for police officers and guards to the maximum.

A simple calculation made by VoxNews showed that the cost of dressing 1 police officer is around 2,400 euros.

Meanwhile, the cost to outfit 1 guard goes up to 3,900 euros. Scary figures, since we are not talking about branded clothing but custom-made clothing, where similar tenders have often been the subject of criminal cases.

Facsimile: Tender announcement opened by OBP for clothing for the State Police

According to documents available to VoxNews , the Centralized Purchasing Operator has opened a tender with the object of "purchase and distribution of uniforms and shoes for the State Police". The procedure's limit fund is 2,724,218,857 lekë, as it concerns "police uniforms".

If we do a simple calculation, it turns out that there are 11,645 police officers in Albania.

It turns out that the cost to outfit 1 police officer is a full 236,515 lek.

Meanwhile, in 2021, SPAK opened an investigation and detained 9 Ministry of Interior officials over the State Police uniform tender.

The tender was postponed several times, with the criteria changing until officials announced their preferred firm. Will the same scheme happen this time?!

At that time, the cost for 1 police officer was 2,800 euros, but the history of these tenders has always been problematic and with strong lobbying.

The firms have politicians behind them who want their firm to win. The biggest clash was during the time of Saimir Tahiri, who opened several procedures and after his departure, his deputy Fatmir Xhafaj canceled them.

Facsimile: Announcement of the Centralized Purchasing Operator for the tender for guard uniforms

At the same time, the Centralized Purchasing Operator has opened another procedure, this time to outfit prison police officers. The amount awarded is a full 1,390,769,925 lekë, or about 14 million euros.

If we do a simple calculation, where all prison systems have around 3,500 to 3,700 officers, it turns out that the cost of clothing a guard is a full 3,900 euros. A significantly higher amount than that for clothing police officers, while the OBP has not provided the relevant specifications.

But, as happened with the police tenders, there were accusations in these procedures, some of which were conducted by the General Directorate of Prisons.

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