Hungary's foreign ministry has filed a criminal complaint with prosecutors, alleging possible fraud in the previous government's procurement of approximately 17,000 ventilators from China for $965 million during the COVID-19 pandemic. Foreign Minister Anita Orbán announced the complaint Tuesday, stating that an investigation into the deal raises suspicions of breach of fiduciary duty causing substantial financial loss and other criminal offenses.
The previous government, led by former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, acquired the ventilators in March and April 2020. Critics at the time questioned the purchase, suggesting the quantity of ventilators exceeded the country's deployment capacity and that the per-unit cost was higher than in other European nations.
According to a statement from the Hungarian government, the investigation uncovered irregularities, including the use of intermediary companies whose revenues reportedly increased significantly due to the transaction. The statement also indicated that some of the acquired ventilators were defective and a substantial portion remained undeployed, incurring millions of dollars in storage costs.
Foreign Minister Orbán indicated that tens of thousands of documents were examined, with some requiring digital recovery after alleged attempts at deletion. She suggested that the findings also cast doubt on the accountability of the ministry's former senior leadership.
Péter Szijjártó, Hungary's former foreign minister, who cultivated close relations with China during his tenure, oversaw both the ventilator procurement and the acquisition of 5 million doses of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine. Szijjártó recently resigned his parliamentary seat to assume an executive role with Chinese automaker BYD, a move that prompted accusations of a conflict of interest given his previous role in facilitating government subsidies for the company. Hungary's government has also initiated an investigation into substantial investments made by BYD in the country during Szijjártó's time in office.