Germany: € 4.6 billion for contracts without tender

In the first high phase of the Covid crisis, loosened rules applied to the award of contracts due to the emergency: Above all, the Federal Ministry of Health commissioned external companies. Left parliamentary group leader Bartsch is now calling for an accountability report.

The Federal Ministry of Health awarded contracts worth around 4.6 billion euros to external companies last year without a tender. This emerges from the response of the federal government to a request from the Left Party parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch, which Welt am Sonntag has received in advance.

According to this, the house of Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) awarded 210 contracts without a tender - the vast majority of all contracts awarded by federal ministries in this way. During the first peak of the Covid crisis in spring 2020, the otherwise applicable right to tender was suspended due to the particular emergency.

In view of the scope and the large number of awards without a tender, Bartsch demands that the Ministry of Health “clean the table” and submit an accountability report to the Bundestag in the coming week.

This must show “to whom, why, how much money flowed through which broker”, said Bartsch to Welt am Sonntag. “Obviously, during the crisis, we had to procure quickly. But the award of 4.6 billion euros without tendering is under considerable suspicion in view of the corruption affairs,” said the left-wing politician.

Source: Welt

Photo: dpa