Canadian investor will bring 90 mln masks from China to Romania to meet high demand amid Covid-19 pandemic

Romanian company Naguma Medical Supply SRL, controlled by the family of Canadian investor Michael Topolinski – known mainly for his real estate investments in Romania, will import 90 million masks from China, in the context of the dire need for protective equipment against the new Coronavirus.

The first of 30 transport flights contracted with Blue Air, carrying 3 million masks, landed on Wednesday afternoon (April 8), the company announced on the same day.

“We would like to thank His Excellency, Mr. Basil Vasilica Constantinescu, the Romanian Ambassador to China, for the diplomatic support he has given us, as well as Blue Air, for the willingness and heroic efforts of transforming and organizing a passenger aircraft to transport the masks to Romania. Last but not least, we are grateful to our employees and friends who have worked almost unceasingly for the past three weeks in order to make this happen. It was an extraordinary team effort,” said Michael Topolinski, founder of the company.

Naguma is a newly incorporated company, established by the Topolinski family (father Michael and his three children - Tyler, Michael, and Ashton), who has been in Romania for over 13 years and has been operating mostly in real estate development. The Canadian family intends for Naguma to be a long-term provider of masks and other PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) supplies for Eastern Europe.

“On March 22, I started discussing with my children about how we could contribute to fighting this devastating virus,” says Michael Topolinski. “We love Romania, there are many memories and good experiences tying us to it. It is our home. Therefore, we decided to take the initiative and bring in large quantities of masks, thus contributing to the safety of the people and the reduction of costs on the market, so that they can become more accessible for everyone. In the past few days, we have noticed that more and more counties in Romania impose an obligation to wear masks for absolutely everyone, which makes our initiative even more opportune.”

He added that the deliveries will occur at a frequency of one-two days, the company having the capacity to increase the volume up to two flights per day if the demand on the market requires it.

The company also announced it will donate RON 100,000 (EUR 20,600) to local NGO “Asociatia Daruieste Viata” and 30,000 masks from the first transport for the first-line workers fighting the pandemic (15,000 masks for the Ministry of Health - hospitals and 15,000 masks for the Ministry of Internal Affairs - law enforcement).

(Photo source: Inquam Photos / George Calin)