US Ambassador to Tirana Yuri Kim reacted to the Special Prosecution operation for the tender of police uniforms, which led to the handcuffing of eight officials and former officials.
The US top diplomat emphasizes that it is good that we are seeing anti-corruption actions. In a post on social media, Kim states that abusing or manipulating public procurement processes is tantamount to stealing.
“We are glad to see the actions of SPAK against Corruption. Abusing or manipulating public procurement is like stealing all the citizens (including American citizens whose taxes help) to fatten the wallets of oneself or “friends”. This is a crime, “the ambassador wrote.
The SPAK operation came after an investigation into a tender for police uniforms. SPAK informed that on June 11, 2020, in the Procurement Agency Concentrated in the Ministry of Interior, a procurement procedure was conducted on behalf of the Contracting Authority, the General Directorate of State Police with the object “Purchase and distribution of uniforms and shoes of the State Police, ”for four years, with a limit fund of ALL 2.8 billion without VAT.
During the investigation, according to the Special Prosecution, violations of public procurement rules were found, committed by members of the Procurement Unit such as Flutura Çekrezi, Anisa Bogdani, Ani Omuri, Kleviz Hasani and members of the Bid Evaluation Commission, Kreshnik Bejkaj, Fatmir Femn , Mariglen Buzali, Gëzim Mingaj, in cooperation with each other and with the head of the Central Purchasing Body, Director of the Concentrated Purchasing Agency and as a result have brought unfair advantages and privileges in the qualification of the winning operator in this procurement procedure.
Following this investigation, the Special Court imposed the measure “arrest in prison” for eight officials and former officials, while another has been declared wanted. / abcnews.al
