Bosnia Goal Supplier Used ‘Forged’ Safety Documents
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A Spanish accreditation company, Ases21, says its safety certificates – submitted as a part of winning bid for the procurement of football goals for 20 Sarajevo schools – were forged.
The winning company, Metalka Trade submitted the certificates that guarantee the safety of the goals as part of its obligatory procurement documents when it applied for the tender worth 66,400 euros in August 2017.
The company’s bidding paperwork, which BIRN has obtained, shows that along with its offer to provide goals produced by Safe Goal of Spain, it submitted two safety certificates for two types of goals.
The certificates carried the logo of the Spanish accreditation agency, ENAC and were signed by Jose Maria Farinas Garcia, from Ases21, which issues certificates on behalf of ENAC.
The certificates had an issue date of March 2014 and an expiry date of February 13, 2019.
Garcia, technical director of Ases21, told BIRN that neither his company nor ENAC had issued the certificates submitted by Metalka Trade.
The only original certificate was issued in March 2014 and expired on February 13, 2015, Garcia said.
“The other documents are undoubtedly counterfeits made by someone not familiar with the existing regulations,” he added, noting that certificates issued by Ases21 are only valid for one year.
Metalka Trade director Amir Smijecanin did not reply to BIRN request for clarification of questions related to the certificates.
The tender for the sports equipment, launched by Ministry of Education, Science and Youth of Sarajevo Canton, was part of a project to buy safe goals for children’s playgrounds in Bosnia’s Federation entity, worth around 400,000 euros.
The project was launched after a boy in the city’s Dobrinja district died in an accident involving a goal in October 2015.
The goals were delivered to the 20 schools in the Bosnian capital in December 2017.
Sarajevo Canton’s education minister, Elvir Kazazovic, told BIRN that neither he nor members of the commission for implementation of public procurement had any information about the validity of the certificates.
“This is the first time I have been informed about it. I’ll check with the commission what can be done in that case,” he told BIRN.
