TIB has termed the agreement on drilling gas wells and a decision to import wheat at abnormally higher price 'unlawful' and said these go against the public interest.
"Decision to import wheat from Russia at a higher price than the market price paved the way for middlemen to make illegal profit, and the agreement with Gazprom to dig three gas wells in Bhola at three times higher cost are against the public interest," it said.
In a statement on Sunday, the Transparency Interna-tional Bangladesh (TIB) raised the concern amid the ongoing financial crisis.
Earlier, Gazprom, a Russian energy giant, signed an agreement to start the drilling project in Bhola gas field. Without any competitive bidding, the Russian company obtained the contract at a higher price.
On the other hand, under a government-to-government (G2G) arrangement, a third party was involved in purchasing 500,000 tonnes of wheat from Russia at abnormally higher prices, violating the public procurement law.
Though the price of wheat in the global market is declining nowadays, it said, a third party was brought in to procure this wheat at a higher price.
Terming the wheat import process unlawful, the TIB said that any private third party cannot be involved in the procurement process under a G2G arrangement. "Yet, the illegal advantage has been taken by involving an organisation, National Electronic, established in 2015."
Citing some news reports, TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said a company that failed to supply only 0.1 million tonnes of wheat under the contract, by what magic it got the job of supplying 0.5 million tonnes.
"Due to the higher price of wheat, another South Asian country has recently canceled its contract with the Russian food exporter Prodintorg," the executive director of TIB said.
"When the price of wheat in the international market is falling, a class of beneficiaries including middlemen behind the contract with Prodintorg has illegally abused the process. That is easily understandable," he added.
The TIB urged the government to take action against those who benefited directly or indirectly by abusing power and being involved in corruption in this regard.
The real culprits involved should be identified and made accountable through a fair and impartial investigation, it added.
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