Bosnia’s Republika Srpska (RS) entity acquired PCR tests for the price between €15 and €40, despite their actual price being less than $0.50, Deutsche Welle reported, citing distributers’ data.

On the other hand, DW reports that RS residents paid between €50 and €75 per commercial PCR test.

The RS of Public Health Institute had a monopoly on everything and its director is in custody on suspicion of embezzlement concerning public procurement during the pandemic.

At the same time, no private laboratory can perform PCR coronavirus testing in the entity.

In April 2021, N1 confirmed that the Institute earned some €2.5 million from commercial testing until that date alone.

“The funds earned from commercial testing go to the Institute's budget and they are used to procure PCR tests, extractions, viral transport media, supporting consumables, laboratory equipment, personal protective equipment for employees in laboratory sampling, salaries of laboratory employees and overhead costs,” the Institute told N1.