“Felt, nepotism, amigo deals, swamp” – at the end of the mask inquiry committee, the Greens, SPD and FDP took stock of the clarification of material procurement in the early corona pandemic. And deny the willingness of the CSU and Free Voters to honestly name internal structures that would have made the controversial mask deals possible. “The Amigo mask deals should never have been completed. They were not without alternatives and the masks offered were mostly junk,” said Florian Siekmann (Greens), vice-head of the committee, on Friday. “The blind trust in CSU contacts” cost the taxpayers millions. Markus Rinderspacher (SPD) spoke of the principle of “classic purveyors to the court” – whoever has a good connection gets a chance. In the eyes of Helmut Kaltenhauser (FDP), the CSU had “learned nothing from decades of hard work.” This is shown by the fact that the party now wants to “downplay” the result of the U-Committee.
Committee chief Winfried Bausback (CSU) presented his draft for the final report last week and relieved the state government of allegations of corruption and the like. All mask purchases were made in accordance with the law, there was “no favoritism, there were no friendships, favors or favoritism”. All of the opposition’s theses about felt were “clearly refuted” in the taking of evidence.
Nevertheless, the draft report of the CSU also criticized: Individuals had enriched themselves “in a morally reprehensible way” from the need; above all Alfred Sauter, member of the state parliament, who has meanwhile left the CSU parliamentary group. Together with the then CSU politician Georg Nüßlein, he had brokered masks in exchange for lavish legal commissions. As well as the entrepreneur Andrea Tandler, daughter of the former CSU top politician Gerold Tandler, who, together with a business partner, pocketed a total of 48 million euros in fees. The European Parliamentarian Monika Hohlmeier (CSU) paved the way to the Bavarian Ministry of Health for the offer. Hohlmeier himself testified in the committee that he knew nothing about Tandler’s commissions. In order to help in the crisis, she only forwarded the contact “completely open to results”.
According to FDP man Kaltenhauser, Tandler and Sauter are “just the prominent tip of the iceberg,” and the taking of evidence has shown that intermediaries generally had good chances if they were “with the right party.” The committee, says Siekmann, uncovered new details and entire deals “through real detective work.” Examples: Tandler failed with an offer specifically to the Bavarian police – because they didn’t want to pay in advance without checking the masks. The price of around eleven euros per mask (including transport, taxes and customs) was “dubious and completely overpriced”, the delivery did not take place in the promised time window and with questionable certificates.
A deal mediated by the then Federal Minister of Transport Andreas Scheuer (CSU) and “pushed through by SMS by Markus Söder” with a Passau company would have remained in the dark without the committee, it said. The 26-ton cargo from China was received at the airport in March 2020 by the Prime Minister with a lot of booing. As far as we know, no commissions were paid here – but the bulk delivery was initially of poor quality.
For Siekmann, demands arise from the work of the committee. The state government is “obligated to get as much tax money back as possible from the lousy mask deals. The multi-million dollar Tandler deal must finally be challenged”. An anti-corruption initiative is also needed. While the state parliament has tightened the law on members of parliament, the government lacks “sensitivity to what is conveyed through political contacts”.
On Monday, the U-Committee will vote on the government factions’ draft, and the opposition will submit a “minority report”. In addition, the AfD, the fourth opposition force, is planning a dissenting vote. Your committee representative Gerd Mannes also accuses the CSU of “covering up”. And he says that you “just looked through the keyhole”, that a broad corona work-up is necessary, for example with a view to the measures. Bausback, on the other hand, said again after the balance of the traffic light factions on Friday: Against better knowledge, the opposition left no stone unturned to “generalize the cases of Tandler and Sauter out of clumsy election campaigns and extend them to the entire state government”. This devalues ”the parliamentary educational work that has been done in a striking way”. Gerald Pittner (FW) said: When purchasing urgently needed equipment, the government had demonstrated its “ability to deal with crises” – “protecting life from bureaucracy”.
Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) also accused the opposition of “irrelevant attacks and false claims”. This applies, for example, to the accusation that his company simply let dubious contracts for the procurement of masks continue. It is correct: complaints were made about defective goods after delivery and a justified warranty claim was always asserted. According to the ministry, all sensible legal steps against suppliers are “of course” being explored to this day, if they have not already been taken.