Interior Minister Lucian Bode has asked the watchdog to investigate the purchase of BMW cars by the Romanian police, and the ministry will release the results after the inspections are complete, spokesman Dan Carbunaru announced Thursday evening. Government.

Klaus Johannis and Michael Schmidt, director of Automobile Bavaria Photo: AGERPRES

The announcement by the government spokesman came 7 days after President Iohannis said, in response to a question about the friendship between him and the head of Automobile Bavaria, from whom the Romanian police will buy 600 BMW cars, that this friendship was irrelevant and stressed that it was unacceptable, for his name and position to be implicated in such a case. Johannis added that he is waiting for checks from the state authorities.

  • “As for my friendship, I will tell you that it certainly did not matter, and my information about this procedure is only what appeared in open sources, that is, in the mass media. But I can tell you one thing very clearly, if there are suspicions, we have enough competent authorities to check these things,” said Klaus Iohannis, referring to the purchase of BMW cars by the Romanian police.

Johannis said he expects the authorities to carry out inspections.

How the police explain the purchase of hundreds of BMWs “for only 32,000 euros” each from a company run by a friend of Johannis

Romanian police said on Monday (September 26) that they ended up buying “a minimum of 300 and a maximum of 600 BMW cars” from a company run by a friend of President Iohannis, on the grounds that only one distributor appeared on the site. auction, although four manufacturers fulfilled the requirements.

According to the police, this year there was a winner in the contract, since no one appeared at the auction last year. The cited source claims that the start of the procedures for creating technical conditions dates back to 2018, and they are “aligned with European standards.”

“Thus, a framework agreement was signed for a minimum of 300 and a maximum of 600 BMW 3 series, 4×4 vehicles at a price of only 32,000 euros per unit without VAT, considering that the catalog price is more than 38,600 euros without VAT,” – claims Police.

These clarifications come in the context of Free Europe and G4Media.ro reporting last week that the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police (IGPR) is buying 600 BMW cars from Automobile Bavaria SRL, a company run by Michael Schmidt, a friend of President Klaus Iohannis. The Europol trade union accused a special tender.

According to G4media.ro, 3 more car brands met the technical requirements, but did not participate in the auction – Mercedes, Jaguar and Alfa Romeo.

What the police say about the purchase of cars from the company of Yohannis’ friend

  • The start of the procedure for establishing technical conditions took place in 2018, based on the needs of the police on the ground. These specifications correspond to the new realities of society, and of course they are harmonized with European standards, according to other polices in Europe, such as Great Britain, France, Italy, Poland and Switzerland (also BMW, with 8+1 gears). Another similar example is this year’s purchase by police colleagues from the Czech Republic, a country with a local production of Skoda, who agreed to improve the level of road safety by more than 70 class 8+ BMW cars. 1 gearbox.
  • Several times requests and even complaints were made to the institution regarding the development of mobility through the purchase of new cars.
  • During the development of the project, procurement procedures were carried out in stages.
  • For the purchase of passenger cars, the first procedure was launched in 2021, when no economic entity registered, although there were at least 4 manufacturers that met the requirements in terms of technical characteristics.
  • Given this, the procedure was later revived with the same specifications as the first procedure, from 2021. The difference between the two procedures was the number of vehicles launched for procurement, from 300 to 600, and an increase in the estimated cost per unit of approximately €5,000 as a result of market development.
  • And in this new procedure – an open tender – 4 car manufacturers fulfilled the technical conditions. Only one distributor registered, who, after analyzing the submitted offer, was recognized as the winner.
  • As such, a framework agreement was signed for a minimum of 300 and a maximum of 600 BMW 3 Series, 4×4 vehicles at a price of just €32,000 per unit excluding VAT, given that the list price is over €38,600. EUR, excluding VAT.
  • And 32 thousand euros also includes special equipment for police work, approximately 4 thousand euros, respectively, a ramp, a tire, an additional battery, as well as a set of winter tires.