Podgorica issued tender for non-existent books, Fidelity reports

Fidelity Consulting has reported that the Capital City of Podgorica issued a public tender for books that do not exist. The procurement process, intended for the “Radosav Ljumović” National Library, involved 759 items with an estimated value of 50,000 EUR including VAT.

Following a forensic analysis of the technical specifications, investigators identified at least 92 disputed items. Specifically, 91 book titles could not be found in any global library catalog, publisher database, or bookstore. In one instance, a legitimate title by Michel Foucault was attributed to a non-existent author. Additionally, 28 items featured real authors paired with incorrect or unverified titles.

The consulting firm noted that the technical specification showed clear signs of being generated by artificial intelligence. The document was officially approved and signed by the director of the National Library, Slavica Ilinčić, before being submitted to the Capital City's Public Procurement Service.