Ministry moves too late to buy PPE through EU

The government missed the opportunity to purchase Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) through the European Union due to the delayed response from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, national broadcaster Yle reported quoting local news media.

Finnish language evening tabloid Ilta-Sanomat quoting tech magazine Tekniikka&Talous on Saturday reported that the ministry took more than a month to take measures to join the purchasing project of the European Union, said the Yle report.

Finland was the last EU country to join the EU purchase programme on 27 March after missing four large joint procurements. The country joined the purchase programme after one week of the first coronavirus death in the country took place on March 20.

The European Union informed the Finnish authority in early February about the large upcoming centralised purchases.

Permanent Secretary of the ministry Päivi Sillanaukee, did not deny the delay, although pointed out that the coronavirus situation changed significantly during the course of February, both in home and abroad.

“I want to emphasise that if the situation had been the same in mid-February as it was in mid-March, the matter would have certainly moved forward more quickly in the ministry,” said the Yle report quoting Sillanaukee as saying to the newspaper.