Bucharest City Hall has purchased 2,000 metal whistles for emergency situations for a price of EUR 8.4 (RON 39) each from the company LIDLE COM SRL, reaching a total acquisition price of almost EUR 17,000 after a direct purchase procedure finalized on August 28.
The price paid by the City Hall for a whistle seems unusually high, considering that a simple internet search finds similar products that cost between 1 and 5 euros each, and that a bulk acquisition would normally have decreased the price even further. However, the public acquisition website doesn’t mention whether the whistles purchased by the municipality have any special characteristics that would make them more expensive.
The whistles are to be used in special activities by the police, the Emergency Situations Inspectorate, and the emergency search and rescue units.