The National Bureau of Investigation has seized evidence from Hungary’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in connection with controversial ventilator purchases made during the Covid-19 pandemic. Foreign Minister Anita Orbán called the move an important step in the investigation into the nearly HUF 300 billion (EUR 0.8 billion) procurement programme carried out under former minister Péter Szijjártó.
“An important development: the National Bureau of Investigation has seized evidence related to the ventilator purchases at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” Orbán announced on Facebook on Wednesday.
The seizure follows an internal investigation by the ministry and a criminal complaint filed by Orbán in August. The complaint concerns healthcare equipment purchases made in March and April 2020, when Szijjártó was foreign minister and Hungary was operating under emergency powers during the pandemic.
Nearly HUF 300 billion spent on ventilators
In spring 2020, the Foreign Ministry purchased 16,853 ventilators, accounting for the vast majority of the 19,002 devices bought by the Hungarian state during the pandemic. The ministry spent close to HUF 300 billion on ventilators and other medical supplies, including protective equipment, PCR tests and medicines.
Many of the ventilators were never used in hospitals, and a significant number have reportedly remained in storage. The purchases also attracted scrutiny because of the companies involved and the large sums paid to intermediaries.
According to the ministry’s internal review, serious irregularities were identified concerning the quantity, price and usability of the equipment, as well as the financial justification for the expenditure.
Orbán has said the findings raised suspicions of mismanagement causing particularly significant financial damage to the state, alongside other potential criminal offences. The ministry also said that incomplete documentation initially made it difficult to reconstruct the decisions behind the purchases. Investigators managed to recover missing electronic files and restore parts of the records.
Two suspects detained in October
These development comes after prosecutors sought the detention of two suspects in connection with the ventilator procurement case in late October. A court ordered their detention.
According to the prosecution, one suspect was responsible for the accounting of a network of companies involved in the transactions. The other is suspected of withdrawing part of the money in cash from a foreign company’s bank account and may have acted as the network’s contact with the former Foreign Ministry.
The National Bureau of Investigation’s seizure of evidence at the ministry marks another step in efforts to establish what happened during the procurement process and whether anyone bears criminal responsibility. The investigation is ongoing, and the seizure of evidence does not in itself establish the guilt of any individual.
