Commission on helicopter for the Ministry of Interior of Sarajevo Canton: It has never happened that a Bell helicopter did not take off and did not receive a certificate

(Patria) - The Commission for conducting the helicopter procurement procedure for the needs of the Ministry of Interior of Sarajevo Canton issued a press release today, reacting to the allegations of an unnamed group of experts from the Naprijed party regarding the helicopter procurement for the Ministry of Interior of Sarajevo Canton.

"The public procurement procedure for selecting a bidder and procuring a helicopter for the needs of the Ministry of Interior of Sarajevo Canton was initiated in October 2023, preceded by months of work and preparation of tender documentation by the Commission for conducting the public procurement procedure for helicopters, formed in July of the same year. The Commission consists of nine members, experts from various fields, including aviation mechanics and military equipment.

The tender documentation and specification for the helicopter procurement were prepared with careful consideration of everything, ensuring that the helicopter to be procured has maximum capabilities in terms of technical characteristics. The Commission for conducting the public procurement procedure for helicopters of the Ministry of Interior of Sarajevo Canton responsibly claims that the helicopter being procured by the Ministry of Interior of Sarajevo Canton will be the best that the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina will have.

At the same time, we wish to inform the public that, although the public procurement procedure for the helicopter is completely public and transparent, we encounter numerous difficulties during its implementation, which we are resolving in accordance with legal deadlines. The Commission performs its work lawfully and will not engage with unfounded and baseless claims made by those insufficiently informed about the process.

Nevertheless, to keep the public informed of all facts and to deny the inaccurate allegations from the mentioned statement, we emphasize that two bidders applied for the mentioned procurement procedure: SHOT d.o.o. Zenica and LEONARDO S.P.A. ITALY.

The bid of the bidder LEONARDO S.P.A. Italy was formally and legally completely incorrect and was rejected, and here is why: the bidder did not properly bind and secure the tender documentation with a guarantee, none of the statements of professional and technical capability were certified and signed, while the relevant contract from the tender documentation was only signed but not certified with a seal, and the basic elements of the contract requested by the contracting authority, concerning the financial part, were not fulfilled. The rejected bidder filed a complaint with the Office for Complaints Review, which also found that the bidder – LEONARDO S.P.A. Italy made a series of omissions and that the contracting authority – in this case, the Ministry of Interior of Sarajevo Canton, acted correctly when it deemed the bid unacceptable. It is indicative that after the aggrieved bidder exhausted legal options, a certain political party comes out to the public with the same issues, implying that they are hidden lobbyists of the rejected bidder. The Commission for conducting the public procurement procedure for helicopters considers such actions as individuals baselessly questioning the public procurement procedure and interfering in a procedure that is not yet completed, openly sabotaging it, which may be subject to investigation by the competent authorities.

For the objective information of the public, we will deny several more unfounded claims of alleged experts, presented in the statement.

Regarding the claims that the helicopter cannot obtain a certificate, we inform the public that it has never happened that a Bell helicopter did not take off and did not receive a certificate. There is no demonstrable reason or fact that the certificate for the newly produced aircraft BEL 412 EPX will not be duly issued and delivered at the time of delivery of the helicopter, for which the deadline is 24 months from the signing of the contract. It is true that this issue was also problematized by the bidder whose bid was not accepted, but the Office for Complaints returned the matter to the contracting authority for a new procedure, with the above-cited opinions that the Commission acted correctly. Let us add that this type of helicopter is used by all police agencies of the countries of the former Yugoslavia, while the procurement of the same aircraft is also being carried out by the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Regarding the claims that the mentioned helicopter could have been purchased on the market for four million euros cheaper, we point out to the Naprijed party that the Commission for conducting the helicopter procurement procedure conducts the procedure in accordance with the Law on Public Procurement, and not according to market analyses of self-proclaimed experts, and that, as we have already said, two bidders applied for the public procurement. The difference in price offered was 122,426.50 KM, and due to the fact that the bid of LEONARDO S.P.A. Italy was formally and legally incorrect, the bid of the company SHOT d.o.o. Zenica was accepted, in the amount of 30,340,000 KM (excluding VAT). For comparison, two helicopters procured by the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Croatia cost more than 36 million euros.

The Commission for conducting the public procurement procedure for helicopters for the needs of the Ministry of Interior of Sarajevo Canton will continue the implementation of the said procedure in accordance with the Law on Public Procurement and the deadlines set by law, and is available for any potential questions and doubts," the Commission stated.