Security of supply The chairman of the IGC board wondered about the president’s intervention in the procurement of protective equipment – Niinistö says he was not in contact with officials about mask sales

Last In recent times, there has been a close discussion in the spring about mask shops, when the preliminary investigation material of the Central Criminal Police (CPC) revealed, among other things, that the management of the Security of Supply Center (IGC) was under severe pressure to procure protective equipment quickly.

Former CEO of the IGC Tomi Louneman according to both the ministers and President Sauli Niinistö were very concerned and interested in the situation of protective equipment in the spring.

Lounema resigned as a result of the failed sales of protective equipment. Prime minister Sanna Marin (sd) had previously said in public that the CEO no longer enjoys his trust.

As part of krP: n the chairman of the IGC Board of Directors, the head of the department of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, was heard as a witness during the preliminary investigation; Ilona Lundström.

He said that the task of coordinating health procurement was assigned to the IGC after a joint meeting between the President and the Committee on Foreign and Security Policy, the so-called tp-utva. Lundström had not been in favor of taking up the post at the IGC.

“Tp-utva was reflected in the functioning leadership of the IGC but not in the government, and this bothered me and I was wondering if this was going well. When the President of the Republic intervenes in the procurement of shelters, things get blurred at a lower level, ”Lundström said.

STT asked the president Sauli Niinistö to assess whether political pressure and official responsibility were in place at the beginning of the corona pandemic.

“That I do not know. I had no contact with the officials, but with the ministries, ”Niinistö replied during his visit to Berlin.

Niinistö said he had a lot of discussions with ministers in March 2020, when information about the lack of masks came from the field and it was unclear how and where to get more of them.

Niinistö points out that there was also a worldwide shortage of masks at that time. He recalls discussing the matter with the German Federal President at the time Frank-Walter Steinmeier with.

“He sometimes stated around mid-March that they have ordered a lot, but nothing has come. That was just the situation. ”

The prosecutor’s office announced last Thursday that Lounemaa and two other former IGC leaders would not be prosecuted because there were no probable reasons to suspect them of the crime.