FBiH Ministry of Interior receives qualified opinion: 131,000 KM allocated for service contracts

The Office for Audit of Institutions of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has published the audit report for 2013 for the Ministry of Interior of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, headed by Minister Predrag Kureš, in which this ministry received a qualified opinion, reports the news agency Patria.

The report lists several points of operations for which auditors could not confirm that they were conducted in the best manner. Among other things, auditors state that they cannot confirm that the selection of suppliers and the conclusion of contracts for the procurement of software and hardware for the system of the Master Register of the Unified Central Register of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina with „Österreichische Staatsdruckerei GmbH“ (OeSD) from Vienna, worth 2,155,000 KM, was carried out in a transparent manner, that the best and most favorable bidder was selected, or that the best value for the invested budget funds was achieved.

- The procurement was conducted without applying the Law on Public Procurement of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and no relevant documentation was presented based on which it could be confirmed that the selection was made based on a prior market examination and established criteria – the report states.

Furthermore, it states that the justification for concluding contracts with the public company „Službeni list BiH“ for printing and distribution of civil registers, forms of extracts from civil registers, and certificates of citizenship and marriage certificates cannot be confirmed, given that the largest part of the work from the concluded contracts should have been performed by the Ministry and that the transfer of performing these tasks to the public company „Službeni list BiH“ resulted in additional budget allocations.

- In accordance with the contract, an advance payment of 300,000 KM was made in December 2012, while delivery, instead of in January, was made in June 2013. Also, the justification for the recognized difference in favor of the public company „Službeni list BiH“ between the purchase value from the supplier and the selling value to the Ministry in the amount of 224,340 KM including VAT cannot be fully confirmed, given that from the presented documentation the justification for recognizing this cost could not be fully confirmed – the report states.

 Incidentally, in fiscal year 2013, 143 service contracts were concluded with external associates, a large number of which relate to longer periods (three and six months). Expenditures based on service contracts were reported in the amount of 131,000 KM, and in the previous year in the amount of 130,583 KM.

- We cannot confirm that adequate activities were undertaken with the aim of reducing expenditures on this basis and reviewing the justification for concluding service contracts, given that they were also concluded for tasks within the Ministry's competence, i.e., tasks systematized by the Rulebook on Internal Organization – the auditors stated.

The Ministry of Interior of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina was also generous when it comes to commissions, so expenditures for commission work were reported in the amount of 116,462 KM, which is 13,314 KM less compared to the previous year.

- However, it cannot be confirmed that adequate activities were undertaken to review the justification for forming a large number of working bodies for which members of working bodies are entitled to compensation, with the aim of reducing expenditures on this basis, especially considering that these tasks are within the Ministry's competence and in most cases, Ministry employees were appointed – the report states.