Audit finds bread bought at up to 126 den/kg and 250 unused mattresses at Pelagonia dormitory

The State Audit Office's latest report on the Pelagonia Student Dormitory in Kisela Voda documents numerous procurement irregularities, with an especially striking finding about the price paid for bread: purchases last year reached prices far above the market level.

"After introducing daily records, monthly invoices in 2025 were significantly reduced compared to 2024. The audit also found that under the new contract in 2025 the price of bread reached 126 denars/kg, which is considerably above the market price of around 70 denars/kg, indicating uneconomical use of public funds and weaknesses in the control of public procurements," the State Audit Office states. Earlier reporting in the audit material also noted purchases of bread at 120 denars per kilogram in the previous year.

Procurement practices from 2023–2025 under scrutiny

The auditors say the dormitory followed the same practice in 2023 and 2024; one piece of bread was counted as weighing one kilogram and the actual weight was not measured. Problems trace back to a 2023 bread-and-flour contract that was signed with a supplier whose main business activity did not match the subject of the procurement, and the required bank guarantee for proper contract execution was not presented to the audit team.

According to the audit, the contract price for bread in 2023 was 57.46 denars per kilogram, but during delivery the economic operator invoiced one piece of bread as a full kilogram — a discrepancy that, because of weak internal controls, was only discovered toward the end of 2024. "During implementation the economic operator invoiced one piece of bread as a kilogram, which due to weak internal controls was discovered only toward the end of 2024," the auditors note.

The report also flags a separate major irregularity in mattress procurement: 250 mattresses purchased were never put into use and were larger than the beds. "The tender documentation for the mattress procurement from 2023 contains restrictive conditions, and the contract was concluded with the selected economic operator without a bank guarantee for proper execution of the contract. A total of 250 mattresses were procured with a total value of 1.174 thousand denars (from the planned 500 mattresses) with dimensions different from those specified in the technical specification, without appropriate acceptance documentation and were stored in the dormitory and not used at all. We also established that previously 450 mattresses had been procured from the same supplier, although the existing ones were in good condition, and because the bed dimensions are smaller than the mattresses, the stability and statics of the beds were compromised," the auditor states.

Beyond bread and mattresses, the audit raises doubts about other food purchases: in many procurements only a single offer was submitted, contracts were signed at estimated values without defined quantities, regularly supplied items were priced above market levels, and items that are not normally procured appeared with unrealistically low offered prices without additional explanation from suppliers. "We established inconsistencies in the planning and execution of public procurements and in the implementation of concluded contracts... In some contracts we also recorded exceedances of agreed values, which points to insufficient control and uneconomical use of public funds," the auditors add.

Photo: press material from the event