Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen (PS) spoke to reporters in the Parliament House in Helsinki on 19 June 2024. Rantanen on Tuesday told YLE that she intends to request a report from the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) about its untendered reception service acquisitions. (Markku Ulander – Lehtikuva)
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MINISTER of the Interior Mari Rantanen (PS) has expressed her concern over news about the reception centre contracts handed out by the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri).
YLE on Monday revealed that Migri has spent 900 million euros on reception services without a tendering process, possibly violating the statutory requirement of authorities to put out to tender all social and health care services valued at more than 400,000 euros.
For 2022 and 2023 alone, the value of untendered reception centre contracts amounted to 670 million euros, according to the report by the public broadcaster’s team of investigative journalists, MOT. The costs stem not only from accommodation, but also from the reception allowance, health and language services provided to refugees and asylum seekers.
“It doesn’t look too good,” Rantanen retorted to YLE on Tuesday.
Rantanen added that she recognises the need to set up reception centres quickly over the two-year period to accommodate Ukrainians fleeing the full-scale invasion by Russia. Migri, though, should have since re-considered its approach.
Experts interviewed by the public broadcasting company estimated that authorities can sign off on public acquisitions without a tendering process only for short periods of time, in circumstances where external factors do not afford them the time to organise such a process.
Migri in February communicated that it has started inviting tenders for the provision of reception services. What it neglected to state is that a large share of reception services had not been put out to tender in the past three years and that some of the contracts remain in effect, the investigative report highlights.
“This is a question of using taxpayers’ money, and you have to be especially careful there,” reminded Rantanen.
She added that she intends to request a more detailed account of the acquisitions from Migri. Whether or not further measures are required will be determined based on the account.
YLE on Tuesday also wrote that the authority has paid the operators of reception centres a premium of 5–8 per cent over their budgets for administrative costs, effectively guaranteeing the operators profits that increase parallel to their administrative costs. Such a practice is not conducive to operating reception centres in a cost-efficient way.
“It doesn’t sound too encouraging. I’m sure that same report will give us an explanation of what this has been founded on,” said Rantanen.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
