Croatia’s Ministry of Defence (MORH) has canceled a procurement contract for military mattresses after discovering that the supplier planned to provide products imported from Serbia.
According to the ministry, the entire public procurement procedure will be terminated despite having reached its final stages.
“The Ministry of Defence does not accept that mattresses for military barracks are manufactured in the Republic of Serbia and, in accordance with the available legal options, will cancel this procurement procedure and will not sign the contract. In future procurement procedures, conditions related to the origin of production and procurement will be reviewed,” the ministry said in a statement.
The contract, which covered the purchase of 1,700 mattresses for Croatian military barracks, had been awarded to Komfort, a company based in Slavonski Brod. However, authorities later established that the company imports and resells mattresses manufactured in Serbia, prompting the ministry to abandon the deal.
The case has also highlighted an apparent inconsistency within Croatian state institutions. While the Defence Ministry rejected the procurement, the Ministry of the Interior has already signed several contracts worth €126,000 with the same company, Komfort.
According to local reports, around half of those contracts have already been implemented. The Interior Ministry is purchasing equipment from the company, including mattresses and furnishings for dormitories at the Croatian Police Academy.
The development has sparked debate over public procurement policies and the role of product origin in government purchasing decisions, particularly when it comes to supplying the country’s security institutions.
