The Strumica Police Department submitted criminal charges to the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Strumica against K.K. (35) from Strumica, on suspicion of committing the criminal offense “Abuse of the procedure for public call, awarding a public procurement contract or public-private partnership”. Charges were also filed against D.P.S. (61) from Strumica, K.B. (37) from Bogdanci, L.J. (63) from the village of Novo Selo near Strumica and L.Gj. (62) from Strumica on suspicion of committing the criminal offense “Misconduct in office”, as well as against G.P. (58) from Skopje on suspicion of assisting in the offenses “Abuse of the public call procedure, awarding a public procurement contract or public-private partnership” and “Misconduct in office”.
The accused K.K., in his capacity as former mayor of the Municipality of Strumica, violated the rules of the procurement procedure for electric buses for the needs of the Public Transport Enterprise “Strumica-Transport” by engaging G.P. as the responsible person for responding to technical questions, participating in technical evaluation, supervising the implementation, and overall realization of the contract, even though he did not possess the required professional qualifications nor the mandatory A-license for electrical engineering supervision issued by the Chamber of Authorized Architects and Engineers.
K.K. also knowingly violated procurement regulations by arranging with G.P. to include technical specifications in the tender documentation that clearly and almost identically matched the specifications of the already procured electric buses.
The accused D.P.S., as director of “Strumica-Transport”, acted negligently by failing to conduct proper oversight over the entire procedure and implementation of the procurement. On 12.03.2024, he signed a procurement contract for 10 new electric buses through financial leasing, in a procedure in which a person without the required qualifications or an A-license participated.
The accused K.B., as chairwoman of the public procurement commission of “Strumica-Transport”, together with L.J. and L.Gj., members of the commission, appointed G.P. as the responsible person for monitoring the execution of the contract, although he only held a B-license in the field of electrical engineering and was not qualified to perform the required responsibilities, nor authorized to answer technical questions, participate in technical evaluations, or oversee implementation.
As a result of these actions, 10 electric buses were procured for the amount of 429,933,595 denars, causing material damage of significant scale. The absence of a professionally qualified person with an A-license for electrical supervision raised concerns regarding the true value, quality, safety and reliability of the technical specifications of the procured electric buses.