Covid ventilator scandal: 15.5 billion forints overpricing at six intermediary firms
During an audit by the Foreign Ministry, a total difference of 15.5 billion forints was revealed at six intermediary companies between the firms' own procurement prices and the amounts actually paid by the ministry led by Szijjártó Péter.
Six companies, 15.5 billion forints difference in state Covid ventilator purchases
The Foreign Ministry identified a total difference of 15.5 billion forints at six intermediary companies between the firms' own procurement prices for ventilators and protective equipment and the sums actually paid by the ministry led by Szijjártó Péter, as announced by parliamentary state secretary Velkey György László on Facebook, as reported by 24.hu.
According to Velkey, documents and invoices uncovered during the audit clearly demonstrate at what prices the intermediaries procured ventilators and protective equipment abroad and how much the Hungarian state paid for the same items. The state secretary also made public specific data relating to transactions involving individual companies.
However, the forint amounts listed in the post, when added up line by line, total only 13.512 billion forints, not the announced 15.5 billion. Velkey treated the intermediary price difference entirely as overpricing, although the companies may have incurred shipping, financing or other ancillary costs.
The state secretary also drew attention to the fact that most of the affected companies had not previously dealt with healthcare equipment and only registered the necessary activity codes directly before concluding the ministry contract. Their revenues jumped dramatically in the year of the pandemic: TMT Technics' turnover increased from 113 million to 18.6 billion forints, Pro Concept's from 3.8 billion to 35 billion, and MAROSPORT's from 230 million to 50 billion forints. The revenue of several affected companies subsequently fell, or the companies ceased to exist through forced deregistration.
In 2020, the Orbán government purchased approximately 17,000 ventilators through 28 intermediaries for a total of roughly 300 billion forints. A significant portion of the machines was never used: at least 12,000 units were still in storage in the summer of this year, with storage costs by then exceeding 2.3 billion forints.
The Foreign Ministry previously informed 24.hu that the audit had uncovered problematic transactions in every protective equipment category, with the suspected financial loss estimated at hundreds of billions of forints. Foreign Minister Orbán Anita filed a report of suspected gross misappropriation causing significant financial loss and other crimes against an unknown perpetrator.
The ministry led by Szijjártó justified the transactions in 2021 by stating that during the first wave of the pandemic there was extraordinary international competition for equipment, which is why they purchased from whoever could supply, and during that period there was no unified market price.
Source: 24.hu