One of the companies to which the Government of Pedro Sanchez awarded contracts without bidding due to the urgency derived from the pandemic it had received, just fifteen days before, two ICO credits granted by the Ministry of Economy of Nadia Calviño.
The complaint filed by the team of Isabel Diaz Ayuso before the Prosecutor’s Office included twelve contracts awarded to various companies. The letter pointed to all those authorities, officials and individuals who could appear to be responsible for possible crimes of prevarication, influence peddling, prohibited negotiations with officials and embezzlement of public funds.
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One of these businesses was Members Of The Tribe S.L.. This company was awarded two contracts. Both for the supply of nitrile gloves. The first materialized for a value of 5.564.000 euros and the second by 3.880.000 euros.
As El Debate has been able to verify, barely fifteen days before this happened, the company benefited from the granting of two ICO credits through the Credit Entity, a body dependent on the Ministry of Economy. Specifically, on April 27, 2020 they were granted 80.000 euros and three days later, on the 30th, another 108,000.
ICO Credits
Due to the arrival of COVID-19 in Spain, the Executive made available to the self-employed and companies some credits guaranteed by the Official Credit Institute (ICO) with the aim of softening the economic effects derived from the pandemic.
The Government of Sánchez approved in March 2020 a line of guarantees endowed with up to 100,000 million euros. The reason was “to facilitate access to credit and liquidity for companies and the self-employed to face the economic and social impact of COVID-19”. This financing from which the aforementioned company benefited was one of the first approved aimed at trying to save the Spanish business fabric. In fact, a second reinforcement line was subsequently launched.
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From textile to nitrile
La empresa Member of the Tribe It is directed by Marc Singer Fresco, former CEO of Vans Spain. His previous experience is one of the reasons for his ability to transform his business, whose purpose is the manufacture and sale of clothing and accessories and which ended up being one of the major suppliers of the Ministry of Health to the who supplied 40 million nitrile gloves.
If the ICO credits were granted on April 27 and 30, the first contract was formalized on May 14 of the same year. Just two weeks were enough to adapt the business.
uncompetitive price
The reason that led to People’s Parliamentary Group to include contracts with Member of the Tribe they lie in the price at which the Ministry of Health acquired the unit of nitrile gloves.
The price was ten cents for each of the units. This meant a much higher cost than that offered on those same dates by other suppliers that were awarded even by the Ministry of Health itself, which obtained 17 million gloves per 0.05 euros the unit. That is, half of what was bought from the company in question. the same way he did Castile-La Mancha (€0.08/unit)the service Health from Murcia (between 0.02 and 0.03/ unit), the Cantabrian (€0.02/unit) and Castilla y León (€0.07/unit).
