Hungary foreign ministry files report on $964 million pandemic-era ventilator deals

BUDAPEST, Aug 25 (Reuters) – Hungary’s Foreign Ministry has filed a report with prosecutors on suspected fraud and other crimes involving the 2020 purchase of ventilators during the COVID-19 pandemic under the previous government, Foreign Minister Anita Orban said on Tuesday.

• The report on the purchase of nearly 17,000 ventilators worth a combined 300 billion forints ($963.82 million) says the ministry bought thousands of surplus ventilators that could not be used realistically at inflated prices, Orban told reporters.

• Press officials for former right-wing ruling party Fidesz did not immediately respond to emailed questions seeking comment.

• Orban says an internal audit at the ministry could recover only what she described as a partial picture of pandemic-era purchases as some files and documentation had to be recovered electronically.

• The ministry has filed a report with prosecutors based on 88 gigabytes of information, or 130,000 recovered files.

• Orban says the number of ventilators purchased by the foreign ministry far exceeded the number of doctors, intensive care nurses and hospital beds that could accommodate and operate them.

• Most ventilators purchased in 2020 still are stored in warehouses, Orban said.

• Orban said import- and tax-authority figures show that the purchased ventilators were from Hungarian vendors at prices significantly above factory prices.

($1 = 311.26 forints)

(Reporting by Gergely Szakacs; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)