Deal with logistics company: Corona mask affair: Spahn rejects all allegations

CDU/CSU parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn rejects allegations against him regarding overpriced mask orders and a logistics contract during his time as health minister. "In times of need, having is more important than needing. This was a crisis of the century and an exceptional situation. There was a shortage of everything. Everything was in short supply. Everyone said: 'Get it, whatever the cost.' Of course, we took financial risks," the CDU politician said on the "Table Today" podcast.

Spahn is responding to a report by the Süddeutsche Zeitung , WDR, and NDR , which were able to view the previously classified report by special investigator Margaretha Sudhof on expensive mask purchases in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. According to the report, Spahn allegedly favored a company from his home region of Westphalia with the logistics of mask procurement "without competitive bidding." Because the company was unable to handle the logistics of mask purchases, more than 100 suppliers were left with the masks they had already sold to the federal government – ​​and are suing for damages amounting to 2.3 billion euros .

A classified investigation into the procurement of masks during the Corona period puts the then Minister of Health in a difficult position.

The Greens and the Left Party are calling on current Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU) to make the report public. Christian Görke, parliamentary director of the Left Party, told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND): "The mess and damage Spahn left behind as minister must finally be revealed – even if it requires a committee of inquiry. The public has the right to know what is being done with their tax money." Spahn himself said in the Table Media podcast that he expects the report by special representative Sudhof to be made public.

In an interview with "Table Today," Spahn countered that the details now published had been "known for three or four years." Regarding the accusation that he had favored the company Fiege, which is close to his constituency, for mask logistics, Spahn said: "Yes, of course, in the emergency situation, I first talked to people I knew to ask who could help. And yes, we did everything without a tender. How could that have worked with a tendering process that takes three or six months?" Spahn said. "Fiege had a finished concept for dealing with the pandemic at the time," said the CDU politician. According to the report, there was considerable resistance to the contract both in his ministry and in the procurement office of the Interior Ministry, which is actually responsible for the contract.

At the time, the federal government guaranteed that anyone who wanted to supply an FFP2 mask to the federal government would receive it at a price of €4.50. Spahn is now critical of the process. "I would never use such a process again; I can't recommend it to anyone. We tried all other channels back then. We didn't even know if we would get any offers at all. Some masks cost €30, and we wanted to leave no stone unturned." According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, which recently had access to other parts of the Sudhof report, the price was significantly higher than what the specialist department in the Federal Ministry of Health had recommended.