The North Mitrovica municipality purchased eleven graphic cards in late 2021. The news about the purchase was made public after the Pristina-based media outlet Kosova ime reported that the municipality had obtained bitcoin mining equipment. The graphic cards in question were purchased to improve the work of the municipality of North Mitrovica, the deputy mayor of North Mitrovica, Adriana Hodzic, told KoSSev. Hodzic also claims the municipality is not involved in bitcoin mining but is actually looking for legal ways to prevent it. KoSSev spoke to several IT experts.
The Pristina-based media outlet Kosova ime recently published photos of an agreement concluded between the Municipality of North Mitrovica and „Trio Tek Sh.P.K“ on the procurement of computer hardware devices.
According to this document, this municipality purchased eleven Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 gaming x trio 12g graphics cards, valued at €9,856.
While underscoring that the contract states the equipment was procured for the „needs of the directorate“, the same media outlet estimated that the municipality „procured bitcoin mining equipment“.
The procurement was realized via a tender announced by the municipality. The contract with the Pristina-based company, which is obliged to inspect and test the devices, was concluded on November 3rd, 2021.
Radojevic: Contact the competent service
To obtain a confirmation of whether and why the municipality of North Mitrovica concluded a contract for the purchase of graphic cards valued at almost €10,000, KoSSev reached out to the mayor of the municipality of North Mitrovica, Milan Radojevic.
Radojevic, however, said that he was not familiar with this agreement. He urged us to contact “the competent service” because “the mayor is not the one who signs the agreements”.
In the middle of our follow-up question – what service could give us this information – the mayor disconnected the phone call.
Hodzic: Graphics cards purchased to improve the municipality’s work – they are not used for „mining“
In a statement for KoSSev, the deputy mayor of North Mitrovica, Adriana Hodzic, confirmed that the contract on computer equipment was concluded and realized, as well as that graphics cards have already been installed in the computers of municipal officials.
Contrary to the allegations presented by Kosova ime, Hodzic claims that the graphic cards were purchased to improve the work of the municipality.
„The goal was to improve the work of local self-government, especially when it comes to the directorates for infrastructure and cadastre, urbanism and geodesy,“ said Hodzic.
The difference in document specification
The deputy mayor sent us computer equipment specifications, for which she claims was procured by the municipality of North Mitrovica. However, based on the submitted documents, it cannot be confirmed that this is really the equipment the municipality procured.
Unlike the document published by Kosova ime, in which the graphics card specifications reveals that it is part of the „X“ series, the document submitted to us by Hodzic states that it is a „Z“ series graphics card, i.e. Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 gaming Z trio 12g.
Hodzic states that the „Z“ series is used primarily for rendering, i.e. design and video production. The deputy mayor added that it is part of the LHR series that has certain limitations when it comes to crypto mining.
She underlined that she paid particular care to purchase graphics cards that could not be used for „mining“.
We suspect that unprincipled citizens are crypto miners
The Kosovo government recently banned crypto miners in Kosovo due to the energy crisis.
Hodzic told KoSSev that the municipality of North Mitrovica has a problem with the electricity supply precisely due to suspicions that some unprincipled citizens are crypto miners.Furthermore, she claims that the municipality opposes crypto mining and is looking for legal possibilities to prevent it.
„The Municipality of North Mitrovica is definitely not the one to participate in the process of crypto mining,“ Hodzic specified.
Hodzic: We took the cheaper route
According to Hodzic, six architects, one civil engineer, a project manager who is involved in the realization and supervises the implementation of all projects, as well as an IT service that maintains the complete system, are employed by the municipality.
Hodzic adds that the officials working on projects related to infrastructure and the directorate for cadastre, urbanism, and geodesy submitted a request for the improvement of their logistics two years ago.
„We implemented the procurement that is essential to increase the efficiency of our local self-government,“ Hodzic added, noting that the procurement of these graphics cards was the cheaper route.
„We had two options, we could either purchase new computers worth over 2,200 euros a piece or upgrade existing computers with these graphics cards,“ said the deputy mayor.
In her words, the employees will now be able to finish a two-week job in just two days.
„Now we don’t have to worry about these two directorates and the IT service for a long time. Everything is centralized and the central and local level function exclusively via electronic communication, and every time the system crashes, it means that we are not able to be in the service of citizens at all times.“
IT experts: RTX 3060 is used for video editing, 3D modeling, gaming, and crypto mining
KoSSev portal then spoke to several IT experts, asking them about their professional opinion on the use of graphics cards procured by the municipality. We also asked them to explain the difference between the „X“ and the „Z“ graphics card series.
They told KoSSev that Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 gaming x trio 12g, i.e. the graphics card mentioned in the document published by Kosova ime has several purposes – „gaming“, advanced video editing operations, 3D modeling, machine learning, but also cryptocurrency mining.
According to these IT experts, much cheaper graphics cards could “do the job” when it comes to everyday activities in local self-governments and public companies.
They say that a large number of people started buying this model of graphics card precisely due to crypto mining.
To combat the chip shortage created by crypto mining, they add, some companies started manufacturing a new version of this card – the LHR (lite hash rate) series – which has certain restrictions when it comes to cryptocurrency mining.
IT experts state that LHR graphic cards are certainly cheaper, mostly bought not by those interested in cryptocurrency mining, but by other businesses in the IT industry.
When asked about the graphic cards Hodzic claims were purchased by the municipality, IT experts state that they are most likely LHR graphics cards, noting, however, that even in that case they can still be used for cryptocurrency mining „by flashing the BIOS“.
„Nvidia has limited the hash rate with the BIOS, but that BIOS can be easily replaced because it is a software part. However, when the BIOS is replaced, the graphics card is not covered by the warranty. So, such a graphics card can still be used for mining,“ one of the IT experts told KoSSev.
And as to which side is right, the results will soon show – whether in the form of electricity consumption or projects that will adorn the city on the Ibar.
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
