TIRANA, May 10 – The Special Prosecutor’s Office against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK), has launched an investigation into the tenders issued by the Ministry of Health for the purchase of medical supplies at a significantly higher price during the pandemic.
The opposition accused the government a few days ago of corruption related to secret tenders, through which medical equipment was bought two to four times the market price. The situation exacerbated further on Sunday, as the opposition accused the Ministry of Health of destroying the documents of these purchases by starting a fire on the fourth floor of the ministry building, where the documents for tenders and procurements were stored.
“On April 15, at 18:00, documents were burned in the Ministry of Health. After the fire alarm went off, the guards of the building found that documents were burning on the fourth floor of the building,” said the representative of the Democratic Party, Bardh Spahia on Sunday. As proof to back up his statements, Spahia revealed an email which described a fire incident in the building of the Ministry of Health.
“After checks, it was found that several burned and extinguished papers were found on the fourth floor of the building, smoke from which had activated the alarm signal,” the email reads.
“Theft through secret tenders is so widespread that from a crime of corruption, the government of Edi Rama is committing another criminal offense, which is that of the destruction and falsification of state documents to eliminate evidence of theft related to protective equipment for doctors, including masks, test kits and respiratory health equipment,” Spahia said.
However, the Ministry of Health later stated that the email had to do with an unrelated incident caused by an employee. She denied there was any fire in the procurement office and said the email was related to another incident caused by an employee.
The Supreme State Audit Office has also been working to review the financial operations of the Ministry of Health during the pandemic, following the opposition’s denunciations.
