Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs bought rapid tests at triple the price during COVID-19 pandemic, memo says

According to a memo drafted at the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade during the Covid-19 pandemic, coronavirus tests had been purchased from an intermediary company at triple the price, 444 reports.

“It is up to management to decide whether to pursue negotiations with the company about the $384,000 ‘profit’ realized during the procurement (67.37 percent of the total purchase price), since it resold the products to us at triple the price”-the newly discovered document, written at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs states, referring to Speciál 99 Külkereskedelmi Kft., which purchased 30,000 rapid tests in China during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, in earls 2020.

Speciál 99 Kft. purchased the tests for a total of $186,000 and then sold them to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for $570,000. In other words, they made nearly $13 on each test sold, resulting in a profit of nearly $384,000, which amounted to more than 115 million forints at the time.

The memo, written during Péter Szijjártó’s tenure as minister, was titled “Background material on issues concerning companies that invoice certain products at different prices.” It bears no signature or date, but according to 444, it was likely drafted in late 2020, and there is no indication that any action was taken later to recover the difference. According to the publication, the document was discovered after the change in government, during a thorough review of the ministry.

The background document also mentions several other companies from which the ministry purchased COVID-19 tests. Specifically, it details purchases from TMT Technics, Pro Concept, OTT-ONE, the Gyömrői-sarok Project, and Marosport, with a note for each stating that it is up to the leadership to decide whether to “discuss profits” with each company. György László Velkey, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs previously wrote on his Facebook page that these six companies alone realized at least 15.5 billion forints (€ 42.78 million) in profit.

444 notes that far more companies were involved in pandemic-related procurements than are mentioned in the background document, which has now been made public. The paper contacted the companies listed in the memo but received no response from any of them.