Interior Ministry Cancels Headwear Contract, Will File Criminal Complaint

Bratislava, May 13 (TASR) - The Interior Ministry will not purchase headwear from a company called Rempo, it's terminating the contracts, and it will file a criminal complaint, TASR learnt from the ministry's press department on Tuesday. The ministry stressed that it hadn't purchased a single piece of headgear under the framework contracts. Last week, it also launched an internal audit to compare item prices with those of other contracting authorities. "Although we don't yet have the results of the audit, we've decided, in the interests of maximum transparency, to file a criminal complaint against an unknown perpetrator so that the law-enforcement authorities can investigate any possible misconduct by Interior Ministry staff or the supplier. At the same time, we'll request that the Public Procurement Office should review this procurement," the minister declared. Sutaj Estok added that transparency is important to him, which is why a new international tender will be launched for the procurement of headwear for police and firefighters, as well as overalls and gloves. He also expressed confidence that the suppliers' price offers will reflect real market prices. "If any wrongdoing is uncovered during this process, those responsible will be held personally accountable," he added. Last week, the Interior Ministry announced that it had signed framework agreements for the supply of headgear for members of the Police Corps and the Fire and Rescue Corps. The contracts for caps are worth over €2.842 million including VAT, while those for the hats amount to more than €199,905 including VAT. The agreements cover supplies of headwear for police officers and firefighters over the next two years. The contracts were criticised by the opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) and 'Slovakia' parties, who considered them to be overpriced. lin/df