In cash and three or four times the original price. Masks ordered by France are bought by the Americans on the tarmac at Chinese airports. "It's complicated, we fight 24 hours a day" so that the masks are delivered, said Jean Rottner, the president of the Grand Est region at the microphone of RTL.
“Me, I have a small cell at the regional level which works very hard to, with the sponsors, be able to win these markets. And indeed, on the tarmac, the Americans take out the cash and pay three or four times for the orders we have made, so we really have to fight. And I was very happy to see this plane arrive at our house last night, ”he added.
"An incredible obstacle course"
Regional president Paca Renaud Muselier has also heard of such a practice from American buyers. During a meeting between the regional presidents, “a regional president explained to us that his mask order had been stolen from him at the airport itself, by the Americans, who paid three times the price, in cash. But I will not give you either the name of the region or the number of masks ordered, "the elected official told AFP.
To recover an order for four million masks, ready since Saturday, the Paca region has "finally decided to go through Ceva, the logistics subsidiary of CMA-CGM", a French charter shipping company based in Marseille , said Renaud Muselier. "At least I'm sure no one is going to buy them from me on the tarmac." Normally, they are on their way to the airport. But I remain cautious of Sioux, it is an incredible obstacle course "from a logistical point of view, he continued.
“Full and complete independence” for the masks promised by Macron
Two million surgical masks ordered by the Grand Est region from China were delivered overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday at Basel-Mulhouse airport. Jean Rottner, himself an emergency doctor, ordered a total of five million masks, funded by the regional budget. The Grand Est was the first region to receive its own order for masks placed in addition to national orders.
Our file on the coronavirus
Emmanuel Macron, criticized for the lack of masks that France has to face, notably promised Tuesday "full independence" by the end of the year for the production of masks, during a visit to a manufacturing plant in Anjou.
The United States, which has been slow to take measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus on its territory, is also looking for masks.
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Coronavirus: Containment, masks, tests… The crisis management of governments around the world called into question
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