Today, MANS asked the National Coordination Body (NCB) to promptly disclose complete documentation on the basis of which it ordered and paid medical equipment that was shipped from the PR China late last week.
By using the Law on Free Access to Information, MANS requested from NCB the decision on purchasing the equipment, contracts signed with suppliers and a complete inventory list of medical supplies with information on the total weight of cargo delivered from China via Podgorica airport on Friday evening.
Namely, the Government announced last Friday that a contingent of 19 tonnes of medical equipment worth two million Euros, purchased for the purpose of fighting the COVID19 epidemic, had been loaded in Beijing and that the plane was already on its way to Montenegro. Almost all local media reported on 19 tonnes of equipment from China.
The same day just after midnight, immediately after the plane landed at the Podgorica airport, the Government of Montenegro informed via social networks that 17 tons of medical equipment had been delivered from China, which is two tonnes less than previously reported by the Government’s information bureau.
The news of the departure of the plane from Beijing with 19 tons of equipment was also posted on the official Facebook page of the Government of Montenegro, but it was edited after the landing at Podgorica airport, and now instead of 19, it says that the Government purchased 17 tonnes of medical equipment.
The same news, with differences in the weight of the equipment purchased, was posted, unedited, on the official Facebook account of the Ministry of Health.
MANS also submitted requests for free access to information to the Ministry of Health on the amount of equipment purchased.
We believe that at the time of the global pandemic, and the expected culmination of the coronavirus epidemic in Montenegro, there should be no room for abuse of any kind, while Montenegrin public is entitled to complete and true information.
Information directly related to citizens’ health is indisputably information of public importance and we expect that the Government of Montenegro and the NCB will not declare it a secret, as has happened so far with information that by its nature had to be made available to the general public.
We believe that this is the only way to avoid speculation about the possible misuse of the situation with the coronavirus epidemic and to eliminate the suspicion that individuals and/or companies are using the general atmosphere of uncertainty and fear to earn extra profits.
The case of discrepancy in the weight of medical equipment purchased by the Government is especially important when bearing in mind that the Law on Free Access to Information is currently undergoing public debate, whose new solutions provide the state authorities with greater freedom to withhold public information.
We wish to believe that this is not a pre-conceived agenda that should result in a legal framework that will prevent citizens from accessing full and true information about the Government work, such as this one related to the procurement of medical equipment.
Therefore, we expect the Government and the NCB to immediately inform who is the supplier of the said equipment, at what price the medical equipment was purchased individually, and finally, the exact information on how much of it was delivered to Montenegro.
According to the “Decision on the manner and conditions of allocation of funds collected by donations to mitigate and suppress the consequences of the COVID19 outbreak”, adopted by the Government of Montenegro at the end of March this year, the decisions on the procurement of equipment and payment orders are signed by the NCB Chairman Milutin Simović.
Dejan Milovac
MANS Investigative Centre
