Businessman Ilir Rrapaj, who is in prison for a 100 million euro sterilization concession, is testifying at the Health Investigative Commission.
He stated that he does not have a diploma, as he interrupted his studies in the fourth year. He also stated that he does not remember the capital with which he created his company in Italy.
“I studied in Albania, I interrupted my studies in the fourth year. I did not graduate. Before becoming part of the Sterilization concession, I exercised an entrepreneurial activity in Italy. I had an enterprise with real estate activity and construction services. I had the company alone, but later I updated it over the years with other people. I do not remember the capital with which I created it. It is undoubtedly in compliance with the laws of the Italian state”, said Rrapaj.
For three years, SPAK has launched an investigation regarding the sterilization concession. Ilir Rrapaj was an unknown businessman in Albanian business circles until 2013. Before the Socialists came to power, he was the owner of a brokerage agency as well as a modest construction company based in Perugia, Italy.
A company that turned out to have only one employee in Italy, while it managed to win a coveted tender in Albania of about 100 million dollars.
But what is the sterilization contract?
It is one of four PPP projects of budgetary support in healthcare that originated in the first governing mandate of Prime Minister Edi Rama. The contract was signed in 2015 between the former Minister of Health, Ilir Beqja, and the concessionaire company SaniService – whose shareholders are Investital LLC and the Italian companies “Servizi Italia”, “Tecnosanimed” and “U.Jet S.r.l”.
The largest shareholding in this concession is held by Investital LLC – a small company founded with a capital of 1 thousand euros in Kosovo by Ilir Rrapaj. According to data published by BIRN a short time ago, Rrapaj returned to Albania after the 2013 elections and, before winning the concession, established frequent contacts with the former Minister of Health, Ilir Beqaj.
The electrosurgical unit is part of one of the surgical sets that the concession company “SaniService” sells to the Ministry of Health for prices ranging from 16 thousand lek to 45 thousand lek (including VAT) for each intervention.
The Public Private Partnership contract for the sterilization of surgical instruments is in its seventh year of operation, and has marked a significant increase in the estimated costs.
Members of the commission that prepared the feasibility study for the sterilization concession told the Prosecutor’s Office that the center had not been operational for eight years due to a lack of trained staff. They used that as one more argument why the service should be provided through a concession.
Rrapaj wins 100 million euro sterilization concession
For more than a decade, Ilir Rrapaj ran a small construction company with just one employee, registered in a quiet residential area in the city of Perugia in the Umbria region of Italy, which he founded together with two of his relatives in 2000 with a small capital of 1,500 euros.
However, after the Socialist Party’s victory in the June 2013 elections, the immigrant originally from the village of Rexhepaj in Vlora returned to Albania and established contacts with the head of Albanian health, Ilir Beqaj, with whom he has had frequent meetings, which have also included Italian businessmen interested in the medical services market.
Two years after returning to his homeland, through a company registered in Kosovo, Rrapaj was announced as the main winner of a 100 million dollar concession contract in a contested tender.
Through his company Investital LLC, which has a capital of 1,000 euros and is registered in Pristina, Rrapaj owns 40% of the shares of a consortium of Italian companies that won the tender for the sterilization of surgical equipment.
Rrapaj’s partners in the consortium are three companies from the Umbria region, including “Servizi Italia”, which has 35-40 years of experience in the field of sterilization and hospital waste, “Tecnosanimed” and “U.Jet S.r.l”.
Competitors in the tender were also another group of Italian economic operators such as: “S.S.I”, “Mario Gugliemo” and “Brema Ambiente”, represented by the company “Action Laundery” based in Durrës.
The losing consortium claims that the announcement of the consortium in which Rrapaj has the majority of shares as the winner is illegal, since it has submitted a bid that exceeds the limit fund. It has appealed the decision of the Bid Evaluation Commission, KVO of the Ministry of Health to the Public Procurement Commission, KPP.
The KPP requested a re-evaluation of the KVO’s initial decision, but the latter made a second decision, once again declaring the group of companies including Investital LLC as the winner.
Data collected by BIRN suggests that the consortium of Albanian immigrant Ilir Rrapaj has had ongoing contacts with the Ministry of Health and Minister Beqaj since 2013.
It remains unclear what role the company Investital Ll.C plays in the consortium, given that it has only 1 employee, minimal capital and seemingly zero experience in the medical field.
Asked by phone about his relationship with Ilir Rrapaj, Minister Beqaj initially denied knowing him. After BIRN sent the minister several photos showing him with the businessman from Perugia, Beqaj’s memory was refreshed, admitting that he “had an acquaintance with Mr. Ilir Rrapaj.”
“Following your interest, from the research of the documentation regarding the concession with the object ‘For integrated services for the provision of a personalized set of surgical instruments…’, it turns out that Mr. Ilir Rrapaj is a representative of one of the companies, members of one of the consortia or Economic Operators (EO) that have expressed interest in this procurement procedure,” Beqaj said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health denies that the offer of the consortium including Rrapaj is above the tender limit fund, describing the accusations as “slander.”
Rrapaj, on the other hand, refused to comment on his contacts with Minister Beqaj, contenting himself with the claim that the concession award procedure had been successful in his opinion.
