The controversial purchase of 100 respirators by Federal Government in the amount of 10.5 million BAM has shocked public in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday, not only because of the high price of the respirators but because they were purchased over the company selling raspberries in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
According to the photograph taken on the packages on Sarajevo International Airport, showcasing boxes with respirators, one can clearly see that the serial number ACM812A is written, as well as the name of the producer.
After the search on the internet, one can clearly see that one respirator on Alibaba costs 52,403 BAM, which means 100 pieces cost some 5.2 million BAM and the question can be posed of where is the rest of the money.
Namely, the purchase of respirators was done over the company owned by Fikret Hodzic “Silver Raspberry” and was signed by Fahrudin Solak, Chief of the Federal Civil Protection Headquarters, and a sum of 10, 5 million BAM was paid directly from the Civil Protection Account of the Federation of BiH.
A simple calculation leads to the conclusion that one respirator costs 105,000 BAM.
For example, the owner of “Violeta” company Petar Corluka recently purchased medical equipment worth 400,000 BAM. For this amount of money, he received: 6 respirators, 100,000 pieces of three-layer protective masks, 5,000 pieces of KN95 masks for doctors, 15,000 pieces of protective suits for hospital use, 200,000 pairs of protective gloves, 200,000 pairs of protective clothing, and face shields.
The taxpayers BiH are and should be interested where their money goes. How is it possible for an agricultural firm to buy respirators, which are essential medical equipment to save lives in times of pandemic? Who and by what references gave permission and ultimately 10.5 million BAM to buy respirators?
