Government purchases of masks under the magnifying glass of the NIK. Controllers notify the prosecutor's office

NIK points out that neither the Treasury companies entrusted with the purchase of personal protective equipment, nor the Industrial Development Agency (IDA), nor the selected suppliers - the Polish companies Q. and K. - had previously traded in medical supplies. The Q. company specialized in defense solutions, while the K. company usually imported cosmetic makeup accessories from China. Meanwhile, carrying out such activities was the responsibility of, for example, the Material Reserves Agency, which was subordinate to the Prime Minister.

However, it was not the Treasury companies named by the Prime Minister that were to seek suppliers. The Ministry of State Assets (MAP) had already been in email correspondence with the Prime Minister's Office's (PMO) later contractors.

"It was MAP that determined which companies could supply this type of product, agreed on the prices and volume of supplies, and drafted model contracts. The ministry then sent information on the subject to KGHM and Lotos Group. The Treasury companies also got a draft e-mail to the NPRM, in which they were to offer to buy and supply the products indicated by the Ministry of State Assets, at the indicated prices from the indicated contractors. The entire process did not involve the Ministry of Health, which, according to the agreement signed by the Prime Minister's Office with KGHM and Lotos Group, was supposed to determine, among other things, the list of personal protective equipment needed and determine its quality.

The arbitrariness and lack of openness of the proceedings in this process, as well as the weakness and even lack of control, according to the NIK, indicate the risk of corruptive mechanisms. And yet we are talking about the not inconsiderable sums of money that the Prime Minister's Office has allocated for the purchase of personal protective equipment, " the NIK report reads.

The Chamber's findings also show that although the Treasury companies imported masks, visors and protective suits at the behest of the head of the government through companies designated by the Ministry of State Assets, the Prime Minister's Office reimbursed Lotos for only part of the money spent for this purpose. Due to reasonable doubts about the quality of the materials purchased, the Chancellery did not pay 48% of the invoices in the amount of PLN 27.8 million, which was a de facto loss for the company.

The product suppliers rejected Lotos' complaint demanding replacement of the defective products, and the company ultimately took no other action to pursue its claims. Indeed, the process of splitting the company, which was to be sold to a foreign contractor and Orlen, was already underway.

The Central Institute for Labor Protection - National Research Institute (CIOP), which had an accredited laboratory, conducted tests on selected batches of masks brought to Poland by companies selected by the Ministry of State Assets. The result of the tests was unequivocal - the masks did not meet European quality standards, which meant that, according to World Health Organization recommendations, they could not be used to protect the respiratory system of medical personnel against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

On the other hand, some of the visors and coveralls met only Chinese standards, and did not have European quality certification, and thus did not meet the requirements for personal protective equipment for personnel providing healthcare services, including sanitary transport, services and others involved in the effort to contain the virus.

Only the products purchased by the Industrial Development Agency were not disputed. It should be noted here that the masks of adequate quality supplied by it were purchased by the Agency in the price range from PLN 1.04 to PLN 2.38 per piece. KGHM paid many times more for substandard masks - from PLN 7.98 to PLN 10.61. Lotos did not purchase this type of product.

At the time of the NIK's inspection, the Material Reserve Agency, to which the PPE purchased at the prime minister's behest had no information to determine which of them (including those of questionable quality) had been released for use or were still in storage. As the NIK found, before the negative results of the CIOP's quality tests were known, the Material Reserve Agency had issued 410 protective suits and nearly 133,000 visors supplied by Lotos for use by medical personnel.

compiled on the basis of nik.gov.pl