Money being squandered in public procurement

The Supreme Audit Office has found huge discrepancies in operation costs at various public institutions, the ctk news agency reports. For instance the differences in cost in procuring office equipment or vehicle maintenance were huge and some institutions paid ten times more than others for employee education programmes. Finance Minister Andrej Babiš has repeatedly criticized what he calls squandering of public funds at ministries and public institutions and the government is planning to introduce central purchasing as a way of saving money and bringing greater transparency to the process of public procurement.