Hungarian FM files complaint about COVID-19 procurement contracts under Szijjártó’s tenure

Hungarian Foreign Minister Anita Orbán filed a criminal complaint relating to procurements related to COVID-19, according to MTI.

The minister announced on Tuesday that she had filed a criminal complaint on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in relation to procurements conducted to combat the coronavirus pandemic during Péter Szijjártó’s tenure as foreign minister.

"Today, on behalf of and representing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I have filed the first criminal complaint based on the findings of the ongoing review within the ministry,” the minister said. The complaint filed with the Office of the Prosecutor General concerns procurements carried out in March and April 2020 which were exempted from public procurement procedures. The value of these procurements is approximately 300 billion forints (more than € 827 million).

In the spring of 2020—under the special legal framework of the state of danger introduced by the Orbán government—the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (KKM) procured approximately 16,853 ventilators, as well as personal protective equipment, PCR tests, and medication. The total number of ventilators procured nationwide due to the pandemic was 19,002, of which the largest batch—16,853 devices—was purchased by the KKM. According to the internal investigation, there were serious problems with the procurements in terms of quantity, price, usefulness and financial rationality.

According to Anita Orbán, the information uncovered during the ongoing audit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has raised suspicions of misappropriation causing outstanding financial damage and other criminal offenses, as well as questions concerning the responsibility of the ministry’s former senior leadership.

According to the Foreign Minister’s report, when the investigation began, the documentation regarding COVID-19 procurement was incomplete, but they were able to restore the records using IT tools, allowing them to gain a more complete picture of what had happened.

Orbán added that in the complaint, she had requested the investigations she believes are necessary to hold those responsible to account.

A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasizes that the complaint is directed against unknown perpetrators, and the findings contained in the complaint merely establish the suspicion of a criminal offense. “The question of liability can be decided solely by the investigating authorities and the court,” the statement reads.

As Anita Orbán said, when the investigation began, the documentation related to the procurements at the ministry was incomplete; however, since it wasn't possible to delete 100 percent of the data, many of the records were recovered using IT tools, which provided a more complete picture of what had happened. The recovered information amounts to 88 gigabytes and 130,000 files.

In the case of six companies, the discrepancy can be itemized, and concerns a total of 13.48 billion forints. In just one contract, involving Proconcept Kft., the difference in value was 16 million euros, which is equivalent to approximately 5.8 billion forints,” she added. The average price paid for the delivered machines was 17 million forints, while the same models were available from the manufacturer at prices ranging between 1,000 and 5,000 dollars, which is equivalent to between 348,000 and 1.3 million forints.