Cronyism

(Hyvät veljet) Translated by Jasmid Nurmi

“The companies that win the competitive tendering will be obligated to arrange six month-long periods of service to unemployed, the contents of these periods has not been predetermined.”

This is the amount of detail they have put in planning on how to use the five million euros, with which the government was originally supposed to buy an inquiry for the unemployed every three months. Once the government finally realized that the inquiries are jobs for public officers, which can’t be outsourced, the money was still spent on outsourced services. They promised their buddies.

This matter was brought to attention by Taloussanomat. Minister Jari Lindström is now sorting out the mess, that was caused by the call for tenders made by his employees. They asked for offers for these same inquiries, that as stated, can’t be outsourced to corporations.

So what do these companies do? Nobody knows, because they haven’t assigned any specific tasks. The company can do what it wants or do nothing at all. It can “spar” the unemployed as they see fit, arrange meetings with employers and interview them themselves if they want. The ministry of employment and economy, still has to interview the unemployed for the job regardless. The companies weren’t prepared for that. They were prepared to sell the unemployed as money making tools for these companies.

Now it seems worryingly like the only job that the companies has is to write bills for activities which they can arrange however they want. This kind of competitive tendering is pointless, one could just as well give the money to their consult friend without substitution. No real substitution is given for them anyways.

Here we have a small drain build by the government, down to which goes only five millions. A far deeper drain is Maakuntien Tilakeskus Corporation. In there will be poured the entirety of the billions that will be collected from the local communities, without substitution. The corporation was founded in January, even if the assets won’t be transferred until early year 2019. They are already filling the leading positions without putting them up for application, according to Aamulehti.

The managers of customers, construction and maintenance were chosen from within Maakuntien Tilakeskus’s working committee. Of course the best experts are found from the group that is preparing the business. If I was insolent, I would say that they are arranging executive positions for themselves and each other.

Of course the manager candidates have been interviewed and of course they themselves haven’t participated in choosing themselves. This country is very strict with incapacity laws, so everything is alright.

The whole picture of the renovation of social and healthcare networks starts to clear. The property of the healthcare networks, worth billions of euros will be relinquished to the Tilakeskus without any substitution. That real estate has been built by the local communities with their own money, often times on credit. The properties will be given up for free, but the debts stay on the local communities. The working committee is already distributing manager positions to themselves, despite the fact that the renovation of social and healthcare networks will not be actualized until almost two years from now. In the future the corporation can sell the whole junk to the highest bidder, and the local communities can do nothing about it. Corporation works according to Limited Liability Companies Act.

Sipilä’s government is in a tremendous hurry to realize it’s vision. That vision seems to be the distributing of money, manager positions and the managing of properties, to their friend. The final objective is to incorporate the whole public sector and afterwards to privatize it.