STA, 4 May 2020 - The details concerning the purchase of a total of 316 ventilators for coronavirus patients continue to raise dust. Two doctors have stepped forward defending the choice, and the government and some media have questioned the credibility of a member of an expert group that had reservations about the purchase of 220 of these ventilators.
It was two doctors from the Celje general hospital who issued statements on Saturday in defence of the 220 Siriusmed R30 ventilators ordered on 18 March through Geneplanet for EUR 8 million even though an expert commission formed as part of the selection process had reportedly ranked them at the very bottom of the 13 ventilators picked among 92 as appropriate.
While a government report on PPE purchases during the coronavirus crisis is still pending, Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek and PM Janez Janša have defended what TV Slovenia said were the most expensive ventilators on the approved list. They argued lives had been at stake and that the speed of supply had been the decisive factor.
Accusations about alleged political ties and personal interests have meanwhile continued flying across the board, starting with reports hinting at potential ties between Geneplanet and the ruling Democrats (SDS).
While it has been confirmed that none of the three hospitals supplied with the Siriusmeds had used them on Covid-19 patients and that the head of the Celje hospital had served as state secretary under Počivalšek, the spotlight has shifted in recent days to internal medicine specialist Rihard Knafelj, one of the three members of an informal medical group that had evaluated offers for ventilators.
It was Knafelj who insisted for one of the two editions of TV Slovenija's Tarča current affairs shows - which featured Commodities Reserves Agency whistleblower Ivan Gale - that the Siriusmed ventilators were dangerous for use on Covid-19 patients.
While the UKC Ljubljana doctor, who specialises in artificial ventilation, initially came under fire for alleged ties to the Marjan Šarec Party (LMŠ), he was later attacked heavily for several Facebook posts, including a reference to PM Janša as Adolf Janša and a joke that those trusting God do not need ventilators.
The Medical Chamber said today its ethics committee would examine the statements, for which Knafelj has already apologised. It also condemned death threats that he received.
Another prominent accusation against him is that he pushed for the purchase of other ventilators - a day after the deal with Geneplanet, Slovenia also ordered 46 Bellavista ventilators through Gorenje and 50 Nihon Kohden ventilators through Ram2, Dnevnik reported. These three had also been on the expert group's list of 13, along with Avea and Mindray ventilators, but at least the Mindrays were no longer available at that point, the paper added.
Publishing an email sent to officials by Knafelj on 19 March, the Siol.net new portal reported on Sunday that Knafelj had pushed for the purchase of several ventilators by other makers, including the Bellavista ventilators even though they had been designated as potentially lethal by US, Canadian as well as Slovenian authorities last November.
"We did not push for any of the 13. The three mentioned in Siol's article (Avea, Bellavista and Mindray) had been offered as being available for purchase immediately, and this is what gave rise to the question of why they had not been purchased given that they had been assessed positively," Knafelj told the STA on Sunday.
As for the Bellavistas, he said certain serial numbers had been recalled in November, but that their producer Vyaire Medical had committed to upgrading the device's software by the end of the 2019 and that its recommendations for use on Covid-19 patients were in line with the recommendations by the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine.
Meanwhile, Tomislav Mirkovič, another UKC Ljubljana doctor, who used to head the hospital's intensive care unit, said at today's government coronavirus briefing that experts were fairly united in the view that the Siriusmed R30 is suitable for use on Covid-19 patients provided a compressor and an air humidifier with heated pipes are supplied additionally.
This requirement had also been stated in its opinion by the expert commission, which Mirkovič said had done a good job. He added that according to his knowledge, the Celje hospital has this additional equipment.
Mirkovič moreover argued that the start of the epidemic had been a confusing time filled with panic there would not be enough ventilators. He explained the UKC Ljubljana hospital had also ordered 104 new ventilators on its own, 50 of them very good and 54 perhaps of a little lower quality.
Data published by UKC Ljubljana show that a deal was signed on 12 March on the purchase of 50 Hamilton C6 ventilators through Framed and two days later a deal on 54 Sternmed Vento 62 ventilators through Geneplanet. Three more Lowenstein Elisa ventilators were ordered through Ram2 in mid March.
By 24 April, 13 Sternmed Vento 62 ventilators and three Lowenstein Elisa ventilators had been delivered.
Four opposition parties file motion of no confidence in economy minister
STA, 4 May 2020 - The opposition Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ), Social Democrats (SD), Left and Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB)filed a motion of no confidence in Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek on Monday over his responsibility for what they see as opaque procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE).
The move, which the LMŠ announced on 23 April, comes after a wave of accusations was levelled at Počivalšek and the government about purchasing procedures and the quality of equipment as well as about attempts to influence the Agency for Commodity Reserves to choose certain suppliers.
More than a week ago, Ivan Gale, the deputy head of the agency, came forward with accusations of strong political pressure and other potential irregularities in the procurement. The whistleblower also told the Tarča current affairs show that Počivalšek had personally intervened in favour of a ventilator contract with the company Geneplanet worth EUR 8 million.
Počivalšek denies any wrongdoing, describing the media reports on the topic as an orchestrated head hunt. He acknowledged things could have been done better, but said the situation at the start of the epidemic had been unprecedented.
He said that neither he nor his colleagues had lobbied or politically influenced decisions in any way, adding that the goal of the communication had been to speed up procedures and secure protective equipment for frontline staff at a time when it was needed the most.
Prime Minister Janez Janša said on Saturday that Počivalšek still enjoyed his trust and that a government report on the procurement would be sent to parliament this week.
Presenting the motion to the press, representatives of all four parties said the responsibility for the controversial procurement of protective equipment lied with the entire government, especially since the PM expressed support for Počivalšek, and that more measures were to follow.
LMŠ MP Robert Pavšič said a parliamentary inquiry into the procurement procedures would be launched in a few days.
He said the minister had been violating the law, which applied also in times of crisis, in conducting procurement procedures, which should have been conducted by the Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices any way. "It's about a whole range of direct and indirect breaches of the law, but mostly avoidance and misleading, and apparent cronyism and corruption," he said.
LMŠ head Marjan Šarec added on the sidelines on today's meeting of the National Security Council that there was also no clear information on what the needs for protective equipment had actually been.
Some equipment was available at the start of the epidemic, including ventilators, and the UKC Ljubljana hospital for example had EUR 30 million available for purchasing more of it, he said. Other health institutes also had permission to purchase equipment, he added.
Šarec also said the Chinese ambassador had offered assistance. The state only needed a company to import the equipment, and this could have been the Agency for Commodity Reserves or state-owned companies, for example pharma company Krka, Šarec said.
Šarec said the goal was to get to the bottom of this. The economy minister is not the only one responsible, as orders were coming from the top, he said, noting that some e-mails had apparently been written by Janša's wife.
Deputy head of the SD deputy group, Bojana Muršič, said "this government, this coalition has created a parallel world for itself, and only dishonest practices are coming out of it". She said the SD condemned cronyism in the procurement of protective equipment, noting the procedures must be investigated.
"Every time Janez Janša is in power millions in provisions are paid out," said MP of the Left Miha Kordiš, pointing to the 1990s defence scandal and the 2008 Patria scandal.
Maša Kociper of the SAB warned that determining political responsibility in the parliamentary inquiry or the no confidence vote would not bring back the millions that were possibly lost in the deals.
The SAB had demanded parliamentary oversight of all public procurement during the epidemic and a special fund, which would be used to finance all epidemic-related costs, but its proposals were rejected, she noted.
In the motion of confidence the parties allege that Počivalšek is politically responsible for financial profiteering of individuals and companies in procurement of PPE and other medical supplies and for uneconomical spending of public funds.
Blaming him for "unethical, crony and corrupt collusion in favouring companies and individuals" to buy PPE from, they say that due to his "lying and misleading of the public and media" the minister has lost trust in his integrity and work.
They note conflicting and inconsistent statements by Minister Počivalšek and Defence Minister Matej Tonin and shifting of the responsibility for PPE procurement from one body to another.
They allege that by misleading the public that the state could only buy through Slovenian intermediaries, the Economy Ministry squandered favourable bids by the Chinese state company Sinofarm and the online giant Alibaba.
They cite data showing that the Agency for Commodity Reserves paid some suppliers up to 100% of the order's value in advance, even though Počivalšek ruled out any money being paid up front.
To vote out the minister, at least 46 out of 90 deputies of the National Assembly would need to vote in favour of the motion. The four opposition parties have 37 deputies between them, while Zmago Jelinčič, the leader of another opposition party, has announced the three deputies of his National Party (SNS) will not support the motion, which he said was "without any juice and completely void".
