Veliaj "opens the bag" for rental cars/ 2.5 million euros for 70 electric cars

2024-08-18 15:25:00, Politikë CNA

Veliaj "opens the bag" for rental cars/ 2.5 million euros for 70

A few days before the opposition denounced the fact that Erion Veliaj will rent premises for nurseries and kindergartens, the mayor of Tirana signed a big tender for renting 70 electric cars.

Veliaj will spend around 2.5 million euros on renting electric cars, with the sole claim that they will be used for the needs of the municipality's administration. In the tender divided into three lots for the rental of vehicles with a total value of around 4 million euros, the fact that the economic operators have raised strong doubts that the winner has been predetermined stands out.

Not only kindergartens and nurseries for rent, but Erion Veliaj has decided to spend millions of euros of Tirana's taxpayers on luxury. On July 29 of this year, the Municipality of Tirana signed a contract with an economic operator for the rental of 70 electric cars.

Veliaj "opens the bag" for rental cars/ 2.5 million euros for 70

The contract provides that the municipality of Tirana will rent 70 electric vehicles for the next three years, paying the economic operator an amount of more than 2.5 million euros in total. This tender, divided into three lots with a total value of about 4 million euros including VAT, is contested under suspicions that the winner was predetermined.

One of the companies participating in the competition appealed the tender to the Public Procurement Commission, because the other company in the competition, which was announced as the winner, did not meet the technical criteria of the vehicles it offered to the Municipality of Tirana. The complaining company was based on the technical data of the vehicles that the company offered, which did not comply with the standard tender documents and the technical specifications that the Municipality of Tirana presented.

For this reason, the complaining company claimed that the equality in the tenders was violated, and a company that did not meet the tender criteria set by the municipality of Tirana itself was declared the winner. And yet, the Public Procurement Commission dismissed this complaint, allowing the municipality of Tirana to continue signing the contract for the rental of 70 electric vehicles, which will be used for the administration.

Veliaj "opens the bag" for rental cars/ 2.5 million euros for 70

But beyond the doubt about the predetermination of the winner of the tender, what stands out is the fact that the Municipality of Tirana has chosen to spend millions of euros of the capital's taxpayers, without giving explanations as to why it needs such a large number of rental cars, in a time when most of the work in the municipality's administration is done from the office.

The municipality does not explain for which dependent institutions it will use these vehicles, not even presenting a feasibility study explaining the need for renting at a time when with such an amount of money, 70 vehicles could be purchased and they were the asset of the capital's municipality not only for 3 years but forever.

From an observation of the treasury transfers in Open Data, it results that in less than four years, the municipality of Tirana led by Erion Veliaj has paid more than 1.4 million euros only for rental cars. A few days after signing the contract for rental cars, members of the opposition municipal council in Tirana municipality denounced another affair, that of renting premises from Erion Veliaj for nurseries and kindergartens, at a time when he has collected 55 million euros from the education tax. / Eye TV