In the scandal of allegedly non-Austrian FFP2 masks from the manufacturer “Hygiene Austria”, calls for consequences are growing louder. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) saw no political misconduct on Friday, but the opposition judged very differently. For SPÖ and NEOS, for example, it is dubious why the company was shortlisted for mask procurement for senior citizens. The FPÖ demanded new elections.
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Kurz, who himself had visited the Lenzing and Palmers joint venture, answered journalists' questions as to whether he too had been duped: “If there is fraud here, then we have all been betrayed.” Hygiene Austria has supplied large private customers such as supermarkets in Austria. The Federal Procurement Agency also bought from the company, but the Federal Chancellery itself did not. Kurz said that he therefore saw no political responsibility, but demanded “full clarification”.
The investigation is being carried out by the Economic and Corruption Prosecutor's Office (WKStA), which Kurz and the ÖVP had massively attacked in recent weeks because of the house search of Finance Minister Gernot Blümel (ÖVP). The cause has a political dimension due to the fact that the company's managing director is a relative of the office manager of Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP).
SPÖ vice club boss Jörg Leichtfried saw according to recent media reports “a number of questionable incidents” around Hygiene Austria. Why was the company even considered for supplying FFP2 masks for seniors despite the higher price, he asked in a broadcast. He also wanted to know whether there was an attempt by the federal government to give priority to Hygiene Austria when awarding the contract and whether there was a connection with the personal relationship between company management and the Chancellor's environment.
Leichtfried referred to a report by “profil” (online), according to which the “65+” project had been discussed in the Council of Ministers in November, but the corresponding Ministerial Council lecture was not published. During the preliminary discussions, Hygiene Austria was the only Austrian provider to sit at the (virtual) table.
According to “profil” in the Council of Ministers itself no determination of the provenance of the FFP2 masks would have been made – according to a letter from a top official to the head of the cabinet of Health Minister Rudolf Anschober (Greens), it would have been “clearly communicated on the edge” that “the The federal government would like to procure Austrian companies / products in this project “. In the end, however, because of the significant price difference, it was not Hygiene Austria that came into play, but an Austrian dealer with CE-certified goods from China.
The SPÖ and NEOS also want to address the issue of Hygiene Austria in the “small committee of inquiry” on procurement policy in the corona pandemic next week. NEOS club chief vice Nikolaus Scherak identified a “comprehensive transparency problem” at a press conference.
For the FPÖ, the scandal is a reason for a political change. In a broadcast, party leader Norbert Hofer described a new election for the National Council as “overdue” because: “The Austrian federal government shares responsibility.” The cause around Hygiene Austria also seems to be a “large-scale fraud on the taxpayers' backs”.
It became known on Friday that Parliament had obtained 23,000 Hygiene Austria masks for around 32,000 euros. The President of the National Council, Wolfgang Sobotka (ÖVP), instructed the Parliamentary Directorate to conduct a legal review of all claims that could be asserted against the manufacturer, it said.
