Exclusive
Status: 01/27/2022 05:23 am
Emix masks were expensive and the quality was sometimes poor. Hundreds of thousands of these were bought with the help of CSU contacts. They went to hospitals and doctors, for example – some of them were insufficient and checked too late, how BRResearch now prove.
In June 2020, TÜV Nord tested two batches of federal Lanxin masks stored in Halle. The test reports are there BR research before. It took two examiners an hour and a half to examine the masks and write their report: the masks are neatly folded, clean and dry, and they fit well. The conclusion: All criteria were met.
According to the test reports, there was no test of how many aerosols these masks let through. Nevertheless, the report was the basis for the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) to release the masks and deliver them to Baden-Württemberg. The BMG clears that up BR-Request a. The Federal Ministry emphasizes that the masks were already tested in April 2020 in a multi-stage test procedure. The Federal Ministry of Health left unanswered what was checked.
March 2020: Emix delivers questionable masks
In spring 2020 – at the beginning of the corona pandemic – the Swiss Emix Trading will deliver masks from various Chinese manufacturers. Among them is the Lanxin brand. These masks go to Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia and the federal government. With a unit price of 8.90 euros per mask, this is by far the most expensive mask deal for Bavaria, NRW even pays 9.90 euros, while the federal government pays 5.58 euros.
The transactions were mediated by Andrea Tandler, the daughter of the long-standing CSU General Secretary and former Bavarian Minister Gerold Tandler. She received millions in commissions from Emix Trading, which she may not have correctly taxed.
January 2021: Baden-Württemberg uncovers deficiencies
Baden-Württemberg has received Lanxin masks from the federal government, and the Ministry for Social Affairs and Integration is redistributing them. After numerous complaints, the ministry – ten months after the Emix deals – arranges for an examination of masks that are still available.
The result: 13 of the 27 protective masks supplied by the federal government failed, including Lanxin. At that time, among other things, the mirror reported. The ministry letter suits him BR before, Lanxin is listed in it. The test result: “Permeability significantly above the standard values”. This means the mask does not provide adequate protection against aerosols.
To the BR the Federal Ministry of Health writes that the “alleged quality defects” cannot be understood. At the turn of the year, there were still 130,000 Lanxin masks in the Baden-Württemberg state warehouse.
March 2021: Bavaria checks and blocks Lanxin masks
Six weeks after the alarming results from Baden-Württemberg – and thus a year after the Emix deals – Bavaria is finally examining the Lanxin masks thoroughly. BR research documents are now available proving that the State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL) will check and block the masks on March 19 and 23, 2021. The majority of the masks are being withdrawn from circulation via a recall.
According to its own statements, the state government has given priority to distributing Emix masks to hospitals. These masks also went to the public health service, care facilities, old people’s homes and patient transport services.
Despite multiple inquiries, neither the Bavarian Ministry of Health nor the State Office for Health and Food Safety had agreed to the BRResearch expressed.
Opposition: Expensive and dangerous
The Lanxin masks are not unique. When asked by the FDP, the Bavarian state government admitted that there were at least 118 recalls. It was almost always about defective protective masks.
Florian Siekmann (Greens), Vice-Chairman of the Mask Inquiry Committee in the Bavarian Parliament, wants it BR research take up in committee: “It cannot be that I end up with an expensive amigo deal that not only costs taxpayers a lot of money, but also endangers those who fought on the front lines in the pandemic. We will clarify that .”
NRW opposition also criticizes Emix deals
Bavaria and Non-Rhine-Westphalia have ordered together from Emix Trading. The North Rhine-Westphalian MP Stefan Kämmerling (SPD) complains about the lack of transparency around these mask shops. Although he made around 30 inquiries from the state parliament, according to Kämmerling, he does not know to whom the 150,000 state-owned Lanxin masks were distributed – with the exception of 3,000 Lanxin masks that went to the Cologne University Hospital.
The Social Democrat rates the answers to mask tests as similarly vague: Here the state government has always only reported random tests and simplified test procedures. “Baden-Württemberg has brought back the masks and Bavaria has now also announced that the masks are conspicuous. In North Rhine-Westphalia – as of today – the state government still believes that the masks are okay.”
Deficiencies so far without consequences for Emix?
According to the Federal Ministry of Health, it has received replacement goods for other defective protective equipment from Emix Trading. This is not known from Bavaria or North Rhine-Westphalia. Neither of the federal states have so far received a price reduction or compensation from Emix Trading.
The covenant wraps itself up on this BR-Request also in silence: “The BMG does not provide any information on the content and processing of purchase contracts for personal protective equipment.”