The Government responded to Vox in 2020 that the mask company in the 'Koldo case' met the conditions to be hired

It highlighted that it was a company "an expert importer in the international market" since 1998.

MADRID, 22 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Government told Vox in 2020 that the company involved in the case of alleged bribes in contracts during the COVID-19 pandemic of Koldo García, the advisor of former minister José Luis Ábalos, met the conditions to be hired by the General Administration of the State, as stated in a written response collected by Europa Press.

The judicial investigation for which Koldo García has been arrested investigates alleged bribery in contracts during the COVID-19 pandemic to supply masks to the Ministries of Transport and the Interior, as well as to autonomous communities such as the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands. The amount of the contracts of these public administrations exceeds 50 million euros, according to the researchers' estimate.

In April 2020, Vox registered a series of parliamentary questions to find out the reasons that led the Government to award the purchase of masks to the company in question, Soluciones de Gestión y Apoyo a Empresas S.L., after the press published that the administrators The company had a network of offshore companies and had been investigated for paying bribes to officials for the construction of a food market in Luanda, among others. In addition, those from Santiago Abascal stated that the company "had no known activity since 2017."

In its written responses, collected by Europa Press, the Government details the company's contracting process and how the procedure was carried out. Thus, in the case of the Ministry of Transport, the state of alarm decreed by the Executive of Pedro Sánchez to combat COVID-19 empowered the department that Ábalos then directed to launch the contracting to provide its staff with masks through a emergency processing procedure.

The Executive explains that Soluciones de Gestión y Apoyo a Empresas S.L. was hired, "an importing company with experience since 1998 in the development and technical advice on international health, energy, water and agricultural infrastructure projects", because it was an "expert importer in the international market". These masks came from China because national production at that time did not cover demand, they explain.

The usual public procurement channels were not followed, according to the Government, under Royal Decree Law 8/2020, of March 17, on extraordinary urgent measures to address the economic and social impact of COVID-19, which exempts the General Administration of the State of compliance with the formal, procedural and advertising requirements of the offer.

In any case, continues the Government of Pedro Sánchez, before the contract was made they verified that the company was "up to date with its tax and contribution obligations" and that there was no evidence that it was involved in any of the causes that disqualify it from contracting with the sector. public.

The Government includes in one of its responses to Vox two other contracts with Business Management and Support Solutions for the supply of masks to State Ports and ADIF, for 20 million euros and 12.5 million, respectively.

It justifies that the company's tax domicile is in Spain, that it guaranteed supply in a short period of time and at market price and that it would have had its accounts audited since 2008. "The company provided the legally required information to contract. For the rest, any data unrelated to the contracting procedure is unknown," he ditches.