TIMS "eats a lot of money", in November it received 1.5 million euros for 2 years, in January it added 750 thousand euros!

The TIMS system, which is the document for entering and leaving the territory of the Republic of Albania, has been the subject of both cyber and political attacks. An investigative commission was even opened for abuses by State Police and Ministry of Interior officials, requested by the opposition.

The latter aimed to answer questions about illegal interference in this system. The opposition suspected that the interference was done on behalf of criminal groups, while they demanded an investigation into how the data on entry and exit from Albania was obtained.

But, as usually happens in all established committees, all the MPs or even those who give evidence, only make "noise" and in the end no conclusions. The data is used for politics, without delving into the essence of how this intervention occurred.

But, when all this "noise" was being made by the politicians, the National Agency for the Information Society and the State Police themselves opened separate tenders for the improvement of the TIMS system. Now, if the AKSHI intervenes, why is the police holding a tender? What improvement did the Agency make and what will the police do?

Facsimile: Announcement of the AKSH tender in November 2024, where it spent 1.5 million euros

But let's take them one by one. In November 2024, the National Agency for the Information Society finalized a tender for the TIMS system. The winner was the company "COMMUNICATION PROGRESS".

The object of the tender was "the improvement of the TIMS system and the border control module" for the General Directorate of the State Police, with funds from the State Budget, but with funds foreseen by the beneficiary institution itself, the State Police. The tender fund limit was 157 million lek.

But, read the duration carefully. The documents state that it is “9 months of implementation and 24 months.” Only one firm participated in the tender, “COMMUNICATION PROGRESS,” which offered 148,800,000 million lekë, or about 1.5 million euros.

The November contract provided for intervention, as the documents stated that the old technology is time-sensitive, making reporting and monitoring of border crossings more difficult and slower. “The TIMS system has not applied the latest technology and security updates, affecting the increase in the level of security risk. New regulations and legal changes have affected the incompatibility of the system with current requirements and standards, as a result of the technical impossibility of system updates due to old technology,” the documents state.

Facsimile: Announcement of the next tender by the Shet Police for the improvement of the TIMS system

The police acknowledged that the old systems may lack security and are vulnerable, while they are slow and not at all conducive. It was intended to have training, while the contract foresees that the winning operator will achieve several goals, first of all, improving the TIMS system and all communications with third parties.

If the November tender was to be implemented for 33 months, why was a second tender needed? According to documents available to VoxNews, the State Police published a notice for a new tender in the Public Procurement Agency. The object is

"Improvement of the TIMS system and the border control module". This time the institution that made the tender is the State Police. The fund provided is a full 750 thousand euros.

So, for several months, the Albanian state has spent about 2.3 million euros to improve the TIMS system. But, what "smells" in this whole story is that the tenders are being divided. Once by the National Agency for the Protection of the Interior and the State Police. If the deadline is for over 2 years, why is a new tender being made? Does the police want to have it under control again and use it? Doubts are high, because with these moves the police are already confirming that they need the system more outside of work than at work. Even with minimal security.

©CopyrightVoxNews

This article is exclusive to VoxNews, and is copyrighted under Law No. 35/2016, "On Copyright and Related Rights". The article may be republished by other media only by citing VoxNews and placing the source link at the end, otherwise any violator will be held liable under Article 178 of Law No. 35/2016.

tims tenderi ripng

tenderi nentorpng

tenderi nentor tims 2png