The Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection will purchase four types of ambulances (B 4x2, B 4x4, C 4x2 and C 4x4) from the Turkish associate companies “Das Özel Sağlık Hiz. Ltd. Ști” and “Gizerler oto Motorlu Araçlar A.Ș.”, in accordance with the government procurement contact of April 16, 2019. The value of the contract is of over €10.6 million.
The ambulances cost between €66,000 and €73,000, depending on the equipment. They will be used by the National Pre-Hospital Emergency Medical Assistance Center.
In a response to an inquiry made by IPN News Agency, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection said only one bid was submitted at the tender contest held in January 2018, that of the Turkish associate companies. The notice concerning the holding of the tender contest was published also in the EU Official Journal, as the law on government procurement provides.
The vehicles will be bought with the money allocated based on the framework loan agreement between the Government of Moldova and the Council of Europe Development Bank.
The Ministry said that a commission consisting of former functionaries of the institution and other specialists travelled to Turkey in June 2019. Even if it was announced that these had objections to the equipment of ambulances, a document signed by all the commission members concerning the outfit of the already assembled ambulances does not exist. At the same time, by an order of December 6, 2019, the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office declined to take legal action over the government procurement procedure for purchasing the ambulances as the deed didn’t contain elements of an offense.
According to the government procurement contact, the Moldovan contracting sides have the right to technically inspect the ambulances through the agency of an independent technical institution. This will be done when the ambulances arrive in the country, says the response provided to IPN.
In June 2018, the Council of Europe Development Bank agreed to provide a loan of €12 million to Moldova for renewing the ambulance pool of the National Pre-Hospital Emergency Medical Assistance Center. A number of 168 ambulances are to be bought.
