Munich (dpa / lby) – Head of State Chancellery Florian Herrmann (CSU) defended the actions of the state government in the procurement of protective equipment at the beginning of the Corona crisis. At the time, everything was done to protect the population, Herrmann said on Monday at a meeting of the mask investigation committee in the state parliament in Munich.
Herrmann recalled the dramatic situation at the beginning of the pandemic – and the blatant lack of masks and other material. “We had too little protective equipment and especially too few masks.” The aim was therefore to procure certified protective equipment “in maximum quality, maximum number and maximum speed”. “It didn’t matter at all” who submitted the delivery offers and by what means. It was clear, however, that good offers had to be distinguished from bad ones, i.e. good quality goods “from, to put it in Bavarian, Glump,” said Herrmann.
Herrmann emphasized that even then it was important that everything was done correctly. It was always clear to him that one day the public prosecutor’s office, the audit office and committees of inquiry would deal with the processes. That’s why everything had to be countered “quickly” – but everything always had to run correctly in order to withstand every check. Under this condition, each individual case was processed, the offers were forwarded to the “procurement office”.
The aim of the committee is in particular to clarify the state government’s mask business, possible investments by politicians and sometimes high commission payments to MPs – with the commissions coming from the companies involved. The opposition complains that instead of a robust procurement system, the state government relied primarily on individual “Amigo offers” at the beginning of the crisis.
