The Commission for Implementation of the Public Procurement Procedure for Helicopters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Sarajevo Canton announced the allegations criticizing the procurement of helicopters for the needs of the Canton Sarajevo MUP.
“The public procurement procedure for the selection of bidders and the procurement of helicopters for the needs of the CS Ministry of Interior was launched in October 2023, and was preceded by several months of work and preparation of tender documents by the Commission for the implementation of the public procurement procedure of helicopters, formed in July of the same year. The commission consists of nine members, experts from various fields, including aeronautical mechanics and military equipment. The tender documentation and specification for the procurement of helicopters was made in such a way that everything was taken care of and that the helicopter that will be procured has maximum capabilities in terms of technical characteristics,” they stated in the statement.
The commission for the implementation of the procedure for the public procurement of helicopters of the KS MUP asserts that the helicopter procured by the KS MUP is the best that the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina will have.
“At the same time, we want to inform the public that, although the procedure for the public procurement of helicopters is completely public and transparent, during its implementation we encounter numerous difficulties that we are eliminating in accordance with the legal deadlines. The commission performs its work legally and will not deal with unfounded and groundless claims made by insufficiently informed about the process,” they added.
The Commission stated that two bidders applied for the aforementioned procurement procedure: SHOT d.o.o. Zenica and LEONARDO S.P.A. ITALY.
The offer of the bidder LEONARDO S.P.A Italy, according to the Commission, was formally and legally completely incorrect and was therefore rejected.
“Regarding the claims that the helicopter cannot receive the certificate, we inform the public that it has never happened that a Bell helicopter did not fly and did not receive the certificate. There is no provable reason and fact that the certificate for the newly manufactured BEL 412 EPX aircraft will not be in order issued and delivered at the time of delivery of the helicopter, for which the deadline is 24 months from the signing of the contract. Let’s add that this type of helicopter is used by all the police agencies of the countries of the former Yugoslavia, while the procurement of the same aircraft is carried out by the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” it is stated.
Regarding the claims that the said helicopter could be bought on the market for four million euros cheaper, they state that the Commission for the implementation of the helicopter procurement procedure conducts the procedure in accordance with the Law on Public Procurement, and not according to the market analyzes of self-proclaimed experts.
“For the public procurement, as we have already said, two bidders came forward. The difference in the price they offered was 122,426.50 BAM, and due to the fact that the offer of LEONARDO S.P.A. Italy was formally and legally incorrect, the offer of the SHOT company d.o.o. Zenica was accepted in the amount of 30,340,000 BAM (without VAT)”, they pointed out in the announcement.
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