Mask affair: Melanie Huml, her husband, her ski instructor and 400,000 masks – Bavaria

It is seldom the case that the ski instructor of the family of a state minister has to testify as a witness to business of the Free State, and that several times. But that also happens in the mask business in the Free State, which was quite turbulent at the beginning of the corona pandemic. This Friday, the ski instructor of the family of Minister Melanie Huml (CSU) has to take the witness stand again; already for the second time. This time in the mask investigation committee of the state parliament, after an initial statement at the Munich I district court in spring. And the judiciary, with other witnesses, will continue next week.

The court and the sub-committee want to clarify whether the Ministry of Health left an entrepreneur from the Ochsenfurt Gau hanging in spring 2020. It’s about the entrepreneur Zeno Busch and his company Büro 3 from Gaukönigshofen near Ochsenfurt, who got masks, stayed on them and are now suing the Free State for 1.6 million euros in damages plus interest. The Ministry of Health rejects the claims. The lawsuit was “completely unfounded”.

Huml was Minister of Health at the time, and she is now Minister of State for Europe and International Affairs. The ski instructor of the Huml family put Busch in contact with the Ministry of Health. However, unlike the long-time CSU mastermind Alfred Sauter, the ski instructor did not ask for and did not receive any commission. That’s not what the processing of this unusual case is about. Rather, it needs to be clarified: Did the ministry and the Bavarian authorities order 400,000 respiratory masks from Busch and his company Büro 3 and then caused millions in damage because the delivery was not accepted?

Office 3 takes care of marketing, logistics and other things for textile companies and has good connections to China, where protective masks are manufactured in large quantities. At that time, Huml urgently had to find such masks. Her family’s ski instructor is a friend of Busch, the owner of Büro 3. And he in turn wanted to get masks from China. The ski instructor, through Huml’s husband, brought Busch and the ministry together. And that’s not all. The ski instructor, as he testified as a court witness, telephoned the ministry at Busch’s request for delivery details. And exchanged Whatsapp messages with Huml’s husband.

When the corona pandemic broke out, Melanie Huml was Minister of Health in Bavaria and therefore also responsible for the procurement of protective clothing.

(Photo: Friedrich Bungert)

That’s how it was back then. The state government used every channel, whether ski instructors or CEOs, to get masks from China. Hospitals, nursing homes and doctor’s offices were desperately waiting for protective equipment. It was a matter of life and death. If Melanie Huml and her husband had ignored the ski instructor and Office 3, they would be accused of it today. But then the ministry is said to have left Office 3 hanging after ordering a mask. For whatever reason.

At the end of April 2022, the deputy CEO of Raiffeisenbank Bütthard-Gaukönigshofen reported as a witness at the Munich I District Court how far the order had progressed. This is the house bank of office 3. There, the company from the Ochsenfurter Gau had obtained a million-euro loan in order to be able to buy the masks from China. At the time, the deputy head of the bank even called the Ministry of Health to clarify whether the masks would also be removed. In court, the Raiffeisen bank board then stated that he had understood the ministry in such a way that the deal would undoubtedly come about.

The bank board’s interlocutor was a government director from the Ministry of Health, who had to testify in court on the same day as the Raiffa man. The government director stated that he could no longer remember the content of the call. However, he could remember that no contract had been concluded with Office 3 for higher-quality protective masks. He couldn’t remember why that didn’t work out in court. That was all two years ago. And in the spring of 2020, when everyone wanted masks, things got wild.

This is also shown by numerous emails and other messages in this case. The whole file fills a good 2,000 pages in the Ministry of Health. Sometimes the price that Busch demanded was too high, sometimes it was about the mask certificates. “We also accept other certificates, provided they prove that it is an FFP2 mask,” the ministry wrote. Another time, Büro-3 boss Busch asked what was more important now, rapid delivery or the costs. And whether the Free State does not have a plane that it can send to China. But that’s probably a “very amateurish thought”.

One was probably “politically caught between the fronts”

In between, Minister Huml wanted to know from her own house what was going on with the offer “that came in through my husband”. It was a constant back and forth, in the end the business went wrong, for whatever reason. The Free State is not aware of any guilt. Office 3 Managing Director Busch finally turned to Volkmar Halbleib (SPD), member of the Ochsenfurt state parliament: “We are a small company from Gaukönigshofen and have a bigger problem.” One was probably “politically caught between the fronts” after a new head of office was appointed in the Ministry of Health.

The fact that the whole case is apparently perceived as embarrassing in the Ministry of Health and the State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL) is evident from a process from May 2020. At that time, the Lower Franconian regional newspaper had Main post, whose catchment area includes the town of Ochsenfurt and its hinterland, reported to the ministry. And want to know why the 400,000 masks had not been removed.

A government director of the Ministry of Health referred internally to a statement by the LGL. The LGL noted that the goods did not meet the requirements. Office 3 should be given the opportunity to “deliver goods that conform to the order”. Then “Mr. Busch would have fulfilled his part of the contract and the Free State would pay the bill”. That would be the “most desirable solution” so that Office 3 would have no reason to publicize the Free State because of “lack of compliance with the contract, or similar.”

The “or similar.” stands for: or similar. And that is exactly what happened with Office 3’s claim for damages at the Munich I District Court and is now also occupying the investigative committee. There it will also have to be clarified why the deadline for the exchange of the goods was set at May 15, 2020, which was very tight. The Ministry of Health was much more generous with the masks provided by the then CSU politician Sauter. In the contract of March 2020, which Sauter had brought about, a textile company from Hesse committed itself to delivering masks “as quickly as possible”. That took several months, and part of the delivery is still being disputed to this day. But the ministry paid for everything. A total of 14.25 million euros.

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