Lefitst oposition asks EU to probe contested health-care procurements

Budapest, April 13 (MTI) – The opposition Democratic Coalition is asking the European Union to assess procurements in the health-care sector that sparked a competition office investigation for suspected cartel activity, the party’s deputy leader said on Wednesday.

A total of 25 procurements involving mostly X-ray equipment cost 9 billion forints (EUR 29m) net, but according to information acquired by DK their real value is around 4-4.5 billion forints, Laszlo Varju told a press conference. Only one company submitted a bid in most procurements and they were won by the intermediary company and not by the manufacturers, he added.

According to Varju, “the government is now stealing money not only from education but also from health care”. He asked the European authorities to investigate how much money designated for health-care developments has “disappeared into Fidesz pockets”.

Varju, who sits in parliament as an independent, asked government office chief Janos Lazar and development minister Miklos Sesztak why they had “dealt with only one bidder” per tender and had failed to carry out a “procurement by open competition”. He asked the ministers to publish the list showing which companies signed contracts with which hospitals.

He said the case goes beyond the suspicion of cartel activity and the authorities should also investigate an allegation of corruption.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters