A car worth 130,000 KM is being procured for Konaković

(Patria) - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina has published a call for the procurement of two passenger cars, of which the estimated value of the upper middle class motor vehicle is 111,000 marks, excluding VAT.

According to the technical specifications, both cars, whose estimated value is 170,000 marks excluding VAT, should be black metallic and manufactured in 2023.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmedin Konaković told Detektor that both cars are being procured for the needs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters in Sarajevo.

“The last one was procured in 2013,” says Konaković, adding that the rulebook requires a car to be replaced every five years, or after 150,000 kilometers driven.

“We have stretched that to ten years now, Minister [Zlatko] Lagumdžija, I believe, procured that last vehicle in which I currently travel and work, and which welcomes some high-level delegations that come. So, that is the most representative vehicle,” explains Konaković.

According to the Ministry's last available tender documentation on vehicle insurance from December 2021, the Ministry has an Audi A8L purchased in 2013 for 155,000 marks and, among others, a Škoda Superb from 2016 paid for 50,000 marks, as well as three more of the same model purchased in 2015 and 2016, also paid for 50,000 marks each. For nearly 60,000 marks, a VW Passat was purchased in 2018.

Konaković states that the Ministry has complied with the public procurement plan adopted in May this year, and believes that the new procurement is completely justified and well-founded, given the work the Ministry does.

According to the Rulebook on conditions for procurement and use of official vehicles in BiH institutions, the use of upper middle class vehicles, with a purchase value of up to 130,000 marks, is allowed for ministers in the Council of Ministers.

“Of course, allocating large sums of money for cars can in some way be seen as a kind of luxury. However, for us, to whom this is a basic working tool, we understand the importance, especially in the part when important delegations come to us, to leave some impression because, of course, it looks representative. BiH must also take care of that,” says Konaković.

Slobodan Golubović, editor of the portal PratimoTendere.ba, is of the opinion that, as with all other vehicle procurements by contracting authorities in BiH, technical characteristics like those in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs tender with high probability point to a specific vehicle model, which can limit competition and violate the Law on Public Procurement.

“Given that the deadline for vehicle delivery is a maximum of 45 days from the signing of the contract, and bearing in mind the current market situation, we can say that this vehicle is just waiting in some company's stock for delivery, i.e., that everything is already agreed in advance, and the tender procedure is just a formality,” he explains.

The call requires a diesel engine with automatic transmission and lists the minimum amounts for the width, length, and height of the car.

When asked about the required characteristics, Konaković says he does not know enough about it.

“I know very little about that, I don't know much about cars, that is done by people who deal with it,” he says.

According to Golubović's opinion, the value of the procurement is not problematic, if everything is carried out in accordance with the Law, which would mean that the procurement is planned, the tender documentation is legal, and the procurement enables competition.

BIRN BiH has previously published a database of official cars with detailed information on each procurement of official vehicles in BiH through the public procurement system, as well as data on vehicles and their maintenance costs in hundreds of institutions and public companies in BiH.

The deadline for applications for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs tender is September 21.