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According to the presidency, the recent desire expressed by the rulers to discuss issues related to the acquisition of the COVID-19 vaccine in the State Defense Service (VGT) may be related to the pre-trial investigations initiated on the acquisition carried out by the ministry.
“Organizing the procurement process for the COVID-19 vaccine is a crucial public health issue for which the Minister of Health is directly and personally responsible.
The COVID-19 vaccine purchase process has already started, and the Minister’s desire to shed his direct responsibility may be related to the pre-trial investigations initiated into previous purchases made by the Ministry, ”said Darius Kuliešius, Senior Advisor from the President, in a comment sent to Elta.
According to him, the president has no doubts at the moment about the need to buy the COVID-19 vaccine. According to the head of the country, the most important thing is that the vaccine purchase process is organized in a transparent and efficient manner.
According to the president, in the future VGT may organize to address strategic issues in the fight against the COVID-19 outbreak. However, in this particular case, the president has no doubt that the vaccine must be purchased, and the choice to be made to do so with other European Union countries by signing a suitable agreement with the European Commission in June is adequate. However, the purchase must be transparent and efficient. In the opinion of the President, the Minister should devote his attention, time and determination to the performance of his direct functions and not to attempts to evade responsibilities ”, says D. Kuliešius in the comment.
Veryga criticized the Presidency
Health Minister A. Veryga said Tuesday night that the presidency was ignoring the government’s initiative to discuss liability issues for the purchase of the COVID-19 vaccine at VGT.
In the social network Facebook, the minister emphasized that D. Kuliešius, the adviser to the president for National Security, had not read the government documents and decided that there was not sufficient reason to call the VGT and consider the issue of the acquisition of the vaccine.
“It seems that in the State Defense Council (VGT) format it may not be possible to present the issue of the coronavirus vaccine (COVID-19) to the president and other members of the VGT. The President’s Advisor decided that the documents presented were not a sufficient basis, although he did not know them, because he did not agree to sign the standard declaration of confidentiality established by the European Commission (EC) and did not receive the key to open those documents, “he wrote Veryga on Facebook, emphasizing that Lithuania should decide on additional funding for the vaccine support fund.
According to the Minister of Health, the VGT is a format that has repeatedly discussed the issues of the National Defense Procurement sector, energy and transportation, so the issue of the acquisition of vaccines, which requires a broad consensus of the authorities , is not inferior in importance to possible railway projects.
In case of doubts about the risks assumed, the Cabinet of Ministers decided on Wednesday of last week to ask the VGT for a decision on the planned joint purchase of the coronavirus vaccine between Lithuania and the EU member states. This government decision came after doubts were raised about the company from which it intended to buy the vaccine.
Governors want to share responsibility
Both A. Veryga and Ramūnas Karbauskis, leader of the “peasants”, do not hide that the desire to consider the issue of the acquisition of the vaccine in VGT is related to the desire to share responsibility with other institutions after the Service of Investigation of Financial Crimes (FNTT) will announce an investigation of 6 million. purchase of rapid coronavirus tests worth EUR.
“Today is the question of the purchase of the vaccine (…) After this incident, when officials who fulfilled their duties and worked at night with the doctors, are now accused and say that we will not sign after buying the vaccines, “News Radio said Wednesday. R. Karbauskis said, emphasizing that therefore the Presidency must be involved in the planned purchase of vaccines against the coronavirus.
Prime Minister S. Skvernelis said after the government meeting last week that it is not yet clear how Lithuania should behave in the procedures related to the procurement of the vaccine against COVID-19 infection.
“Every official is afraid to make any decision, to show some initiative, especially when there is a lot of uncertainty. Today there is no vaccine, it is a process in which essentially one company is involved together with other EU countries. There is a fixed price in advance, a minimum amount is fixed, there is not 100 percent. it guarantees that the vaccine will be successful and that there will be no more vaccines that will be cheaper or more effective during that period, ”said S. Skvernelis.
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