The opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) has accused the government of unnecessarily spending 300 billion forints (EUR 838.2m) to buy 16,000 ventilators as part of its coronavirus protection efforts.
DK board member Olga Kálmán told an online press conference on Thursday that the government was “giving away” ventilators to the tune of 10 billion forints.
“It was obvious even at the time of purchase that the limits of Hungarian health care are defined by the number of doctors and nurses and not ventilators,” she said.
The government “stole from the Hungarian people three times: first, when they paid for the overpriced equipment, then when they stored it at [entrepreneur] Lőrinc Mészaros’s warehouses for eye-popping fees, and now, when they give them away for free,” she said.