Charges against 10 people for abuses in REK Bitola

The Bitola Public Prosecutor’s Office has indicted seven people suspected of committing a criminal offense of abuse of power Subsidiary REK Bitola and caused significant property damage in the amount of 178,370,319 denars. The competent public prosecutor submitted a proposal to the Bitola Basic Court for revocation of the illegally obtained property benefits which was paid to the legal entity DPTU Rudd-Kop Import-Export DOOEL Bitola as a result of the crimes committed by the defendants.

This property benefit during the procedure, at the request of the Bitola Public Prosecutor’s Office, is the subject of a temporary measure for securing property and the funds are frozen on account until a judgment.

-The basic Public Prosecutor’s Office Bitola has filed an indictment against seven persons suspected of committing a crime-abuse of power and authority referred to in Article 353 paragraph 4 in connection with paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code with actions that caused the Budget of AD ESM-a Bitola. The indictment has also been indicted for 3 officials from the Public Procurement Bureau, who, as accomplices in a crime

Of the defendants for abuses, three are officials – members of the expert commission with the authorization to evaluate public procurement bids for the election of a firm for tailings in REK Bitola, which contrary to the Law on Public Procurement made a decision that illegally eliminated the supply of one economic operator. Although the company provided proof that it was eligible for the technical and professional capability of the tender documentation, they still assessed such evidence as unacceptable and rejected the offer.

Three members of the Public Procurement Committee have accepted such expert opinion on the public procurement procedure, although contrary to the provisions of the Law on Public Procurement and the electronic auction, only two other economic operators have offered higher initial prices than the eliminated company.

-The defendant Director of REK Bitola accepted the proposal for selection of the most favorable bid contained in the report of the Commission for Public Procurement Although it was contrary to the provisions of the Law on Public Procurement and on October 3, 2022, he concluded a contract for excavation of investment detection at the Brod Mine. Then, in September 2023, the Director also concluded an annex to an agreement that increased the value of the public procurement by an additional 20 percent or 120,000,000 denars, which also acted contrary to the Law on Public Procurement, as he had not previously performed additional cost analysis and did not provide the necessary funds.

Officials from the Public Procurement Bureau, accused of negligent work, inspected the entire public procurement documentation and had to determine that the offer of an economic operator was illegally rejected, but they missed that and the contracting authority had illegally instructed the contracting authority.