The issue of masks in an out-of-use warehouse jumped into the square at the end of last August when Sodena Director-General Pilar Irigoien resigned. The current issue began in May 2020 when public society Sodena and CEN signed an agreement for the purchase of masks and other medical equipment in China.

Sodena explains that CEN asked for help and Sodena advanced that money through a bridge loan. Subsequently, with the intermediation of the company Albyn, formed in business in China, with a commission of 3.6%, the purchase was made. Sodena purchased the quantities requested by CEN: 2,149,752 masks and Albyin contributed 2,136,700, 13,000 fewer than requested. The Navarre companies bought only 389,950 masks.

And Navarre companies also started buying this material from CEN. As a sign of good and prompt management between government and business, the agreement was widely recognised in the media.

It began to arrive and use material, but soon, the pandemic market opened up a lot in the world with great difficulty, and Navarre companies, instead of buying from CEN, began buying the material on their own, at a price lower than that offered by CEN. What has been the conclusion? Of the 2.2 million masks purchased, 1.7 million are in a warehouse in the Pamplona Region, while the government has purchased millions of other masks. All this has resulted in a loss of EUR 1.8 million in Sodena.

CEN owns the material

It has a number of issues, but as long as the matter is clarified, the parties have asked Parliament to use at least the material, because it did not understand what it was doing without leaving the store. The explanation given by Irujo in his appearance yesterday is that it cannot be used because it is legally CEN and this does not give his consent, plus the material expires in 2023.

One of the keys to the lawsuit is that Sodena made a loan to CEN of EUR 2 million, but this does not want to assume the loss of the operation or pay the loan. Sodena explains that he has tried on several occasions to reach an agreement with CEN, but this always puts the same condition before signing any agreement: that the business association does not have to take any loss. According to Irujo, Sodena cannot accept it, and although they have avoided it, they are willing to take it to court if necessary. CEN has not yet given any public explanation to explain its view.

What about Sodena's responsibility?

Irujo left the ball on the CEN roof, and it seems that he has strong arguments for this, especially given that in the face of the harsh accusations that have been made to him, CEN has not said anything. But there is even more daring: it has been made clear that the material was purchased on behalf of CEN, it has been made clear that Sodena supported the operation through a bridge loan, but it is not clear under what conditions the agreement was signed so that Sodena now recovers the loan smoothly. This is not the case in the normal world when citizens or companies make loans with banks.

The observation of the operation carried out by the Directorate of Intervention of the Foral Government during the summer revealed irregularities, on the one hand because the loan granted to CEN was granted at the interest of 0%, thus violating the rules of the Foral Treasury, and, on the other hand, because such an operation required the express authorization of the Foral Government, and did not. This is not easy to understand either, because it was then endorsed by the Economic Development Advisor, Manu Ayerdi (Geroa Bai), and because the head of the CEN of the time and Ayerdi himself reported on the operation before the media, and on 30 April the president, María Chivite, reported on the agreement in the plenary of parliament.

Navarre Suma, EH Bildu, Ahal Duguk and Left-Ezkerra have strongly criticized the operation, denouncing that it was carried out without any guarantees. Geroa Bai accuses CEN of not being able to use the masks. And the PSN also says that there were not enough guarantees: “It is clear that there were not enough guarantees,” PSN parliamentary spokeswoman Ainhoa Unzu acknowledged yesterday. At the time the House of Auditors of Navarra gave its approval to the operation, but in the face of the course of the matter it announced a special audit.

The full exposition of MIkel Irujo on Wednesday can be followed by this link from the Navarre Parliament.