Newly established SPAK receives its first report on sterilization concession
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- Another doubt expressed in the report is the 10-year-old concession deadline, which exceeds the mandates of the two governments. The ‘Thurrja’ initiative suspected corruption because sterilization could be done through an open public tender like many other tenders, and not through an expensive concession.
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TIRANA, Dec. 24 - The "Thurje" initiative made its first report on Tuesday to the newly-established Special Prosecutor's Office (SPAK) concerning the sterilization concession, on suspicions that it is a corrupt affair.
Representatives of this organization submitted the report to the institution, expressing some doubts: first, the fact this tender was given to a private sector, when for many years the hospitals themselves were doing it and second, that the costs are too high - the price of sterilization for a surgical set was 2.4 euros from public hospitals, while the concessionaire receives on average 190 euros per contract.
Another doubt expressed in the report is the 10-year-old concession deadline, which exceeds the mandates of the two governments. The ‘Thurrja’ initiative suspected corruption because sterilization could be done through an open public tender like many other tenders, and not through an expensive concession.
The last part is the practical implementation of the tender; thus, an inquiry into the quality of this concession is also required, and whether the present sterilization, in addition to costs, really made a radical difference compared to the former one.
The representative of the ‘Thurja’ Initiative Endri Shabani said that "impunity must end so we have come to the new justice institutions. SPAK should prove itself with this first report and should not disappoint everyone's expectations.”
The Ministry of Healthcare entered into a $100 million concession agreement with ‘Sani Service’ L51910021C on December 10, 2015 for ‘integrated services for the provision of a personalized set of surgical instruments, the supply of sterile disposable medical material in surgical rooms, and treatment of biological waste and disinfection of surgical rooms.’
Other competitors in the race opposed the process, saying the winning consortium bid had been beyond the fund’s limit.
The head of the winning company, founded in Pristina, is Ilir Rrapaj, who has run a small construction firm in Umbria, Italy. It is part of a consortium that includes Investal LLC, Servizi Italia, Tecnosanimed and U.Jet S.r.l. "Investal LLC".
Albanian citizen Rrapaj owns 40 per cent stake in the consortium for the surgical sterilization concession, though media has reported he lacks the experience and sufficient capital to justify such a stake in a concession of this magnitude.
The concession for sterilization of surgical equipment was immediately described by BIRN Network investigative journalists as "a suspicious race and of flagrant violations.”
Four years ago the Albanian prosecution launched an investigation, registering criminal proceedings for at least three tenders in the field of healthcare: "free health check", "hemodialysis" and "sterilization of surgical equipment.”
The concession for free health screening for citizens aged 40-65, the hemodialysis concession and the sterilization of surgical equipment all go up to more than 250 million euros.
