New emails reveal ministry knew low market price for KN95 masks in 2020
Unpublished emails show the Federal Health Ministry considered a KN95 mask price of about €1.95 market-fair, while it later ordered the same masks at roughly €5.40 each.
A cache of previously unseen emails reveals that the Federal Health Ministry regarded a price of roughly €1.95 per KN95 mask as market-fair in late April 2020. Within the same period, the ministry contracted Swiss trader Emix for masks at approximately €5.40 each, a price far above the cited market level. The emails also document a separate proposal offering ten million masks at €2.10 each, which the ministry official described as market-fair.
Subsequent investigations reported that a significant portion of the Emix masks failed quality checks, though the ministry still approved many of them for payment. Legal experts have highlighted concerns about the procurement's compliance with principles of economy and prudence. The former health minister has defended the purchases as necessary during the pandemic emergency, and German prosecutors have closed any criminal investigation due to insufficient evidence.
Why it matters
It raises questions about government procurement practices during the COVID-19 crisis.
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