Press
At the beginning of the pandemic, the state was desperately looking for masks – and bought them in large quantities under special conditions. Ongoing disputes could still result in significant costs.
Berlin – The federal government is facing billions in risks from still simmering disputes over the delivery of protective masks at special conditions during the corona pandemic. There are currently around 100 cases pending with a total value in dispute of 2.3 billion euros, according to a response from the Ministry of Health to a query from FDP budget politician Karsten Klein.
The “Welt am Sonntag” was the first to report on this. The outcome of the lawsuits remains to be seen, Klein told the newspaper. But one thing is already clear: “The consequences of the massive over-procurement under the then Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) are becoming increasingly devastating.”
The background to this is the government procurement of urgently needed but very scarce masks for the health care system in the early phase of the Corona crisis in 2020. In order to be faster, the ministry used a special procedure in which supply contracts were concluded at fixed purchase prices without further negotiations. In many cases, the ministry later refused to pay, citing quality defects, among other things. Suppliers and dealers then filed lawsuits. Criticism was also voiced afterwards that too many masks had been procured. dpa
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