Luiz Paulo Dominguetti Pereira, who introduces himself as a representative of the company Davati Medical Supply, said that the Director of Logistics at the Ministry of Health, Roberto Ferreira Dias, demanded the bribe during a dinner at Vasto restaurant, in Brasília Shopping mall, in the central region of the federal capital, on February 25th.
Dias was nominated for the position by the leader of Jair Bolsonaro's government in the Chamber, Ricardo Barros (PP-PR). His appointment took place on January 8, 2019, under Luiz Henrique Mandetta's leadership (DEM). Folha tried, unsuccessfully, to contact Dias on Tuesday night (29). He didn't answer the calls.
Davati reached out to the department to negotiate 400 million doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine with a proposal of US$ 3.5 each (after that, it went to US$ 15.5). "The way what happened behind the scenes with Roberto Dias happened was a very dark thing, very disgusting," said Dominguetti.
"I told him that we had the vaccine, that the company was a strong company, Davati. And then he said: 'Look, to work within the ministry, you have to compose with the group.' And I said: 'But how do I compose with the group? What composition would that be?'."
"Then he told me that he wouldn't advance the proposal inside the ministry if we didn't compose with the group, that there is a group that only worked within the ministry, if we got something more, we had to increase the value of the vaccine, that the vaccine would have to have a different price than the one in the proposal we were presenting," stated the company representative.
Dominguetti provided more details: "I said that there was no way, I couldn't do it, even because the vaccine came from abroad and they didn't do it, they didn't do things that way." He told me: 'Think carefully, if you want to sell the vaccine inside the ministry, it has to be that way."
Folha then asked what he meant by "that way". "Add 1 dollar," he replied. According to him, $1 per dose of the vaccine.
Dominguetti said he refused the bribe request.
The Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, has decided to dismiss Roberto Ferreira Dias after the denunciation.
Translated by Cassy Dias