Skopje: A Russian company tried to win a delicate tender at the Ministry of Defense

A Russian company based in a European Union (EU) country has attempted to win a tender from the North Macedonian Ministry of Defense for the supply of this facility with “specific equipment”.

In a briefing with journalists on Monday, Defense Minister Slavyanka Petrovska said the suspicion arose when the company reduced the bid price by 50 percent in order to win the tender at any cost.

“In the first phase, this company’s bid was almost the same as the other two companies, so it didn’t change much, maybe for a few hundred thousand euros.” But in the second phase, it reduced the bid and made it almost 50 percent cheaper. “That confirmed our suspicion that they wanted to take it at any price,” said the minister.

The company is registered in an EU member state in order to present itself as relevant on the market. Petrovska said that the Macedonian secret services had already pointed out before the security check that it was a suspicious Russian company.

According to the Criminal Code, Petrovska says that there is no basis for a crime, but that “the protection of state security must be raised to a higher level.”

North Macedonia is a member of NATO and this month marks the fourth anniversary of its membership of the alliance. A small country with unconsolidated institutions, North Macedonia has been targeted by Russia since 2018, when the country signed the Prespa agreement with Greece, ending the decades-long name dispute that had blocked the prospect Euro-Atlantic of the country.