A total of 53 thousand euros and up to 30% lower value for car tires will be paid by the Government through the General and Common Affairs Service for the procurement of 16 tires (8 winter, 8 summer), for 3 blended vehicles owned by the Government through the GCAS, which has the opportunity to be used and paid not within one year, as the practice has been so far, but until the moment when they will need to be replaced.
This year, for the first time, the prices are drastically lower than those for which the tires for the Government’s bulletproof vehicles have been purchased from 2014 onwards. If we compare the characteristics of the tires that are agreed upon with the public procurement for this and for the next year, three key advantages are offered by the contract.
The price is dramatically lower: 28% for the summer and 30% for the winter tires (annex: Tenders for the purchase of tires for bulletproof vehicles from 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018-2019, 2019-2020).
For the first time, tires with special protection are purchased. With a kit gel for a PAX system, that is, tires with special edge protection and the ability to use them when the tires are damaged or the tire is broken. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelin_PAX_System;
The public procurement contract for tires for bulletproof vehicles concluded on 30.04.2019 provides that it shall be valid until the Contract is fulfilled. (Article 4 of the Agreement) (annex: Tender for procurement of Tires for bulletproof Vehicles 2019-2020).
The need to accentuate the value and to further explane the meaning of the tires purchased for the 3 bulletproof vehicles of the Government, managed by the GCAS is like a result of publishing inaccurate information and publishing news that lead to the creation of an untrue, false image about the cost for the purchase of tires for which according to the agreement reached through public procurement through the electronic system for public procurements, the money spent are from the state budget.
Namely, on several web portals at the beginning of June in just two days a series of news was posted, claiming that “an inexorable amount of 53,000 euros from the state money will be paid for the purchase of tires for the Government-owned “Mercedes”. Portals that carried the news that the money is intended only for the bulletproof Mercedes are: Republika, Vecher, Netpress, Tochka, Javno, Sloboden Pechat, AlsatM, Magazin, Express, MMS, MKD, Kurir. Press24.
In order to compare the value of the tires, their characteristics and the overall specification, the officially signed contracts that are publicly available can be viewed and compared. (annex Tenders for the purchase of tires for armored vehicles from 2014 , 2015 , 2017 , 2018-2019 , 2019-2020 ).
In these contracts, the difference in prices, ie the lower value of the tires, which is agreed upon with the latest public procurement, is particularly evident.
It is especially important to emphasize that in the last contract from 30.04.2019, the price that has been achieved includes a new feature of the tires, which is a type of tire with a kit gel for the PAX system (which increases the safety of the vehicle). If we search for analysis and information about this feature, we come to the information that the kit gel for the PAX system, which offers a high degree of safety, has a value that increases the value for about one third of the value of the ordinary tires that have been purchased so far. And in that case, the price of the tires is lower than the one purchased for ordinary winter and summer tires. (annex: Tender for Tires for Completed Vehicles for 2017 and Contract for 2019/2020)
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This project was funded in part through a U.S. Embassy grant. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed herein are those of the implementers/authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Government.
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