SRI admits that it selected Digi. Previously, the Service had announced that the award was decided by the Government Chancellery
The Romanian Intelligence Service admits that it requested the platform, studied the market, selected, negotiated and awarded the 190 million euro contract to Digi for the realization of an integrated cyber security platform. Previously, SRI had specified that the contract was handled by the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, which led Prime Minister Bolojan to publicly contradict the Service.
In a press release published on Friday afternoon, SRI reminds that the procurement process through the SAFE program takes place “under the coordination” of the Chancellery, according to the provisions of GEO 62/2025.
“SRI, in accordance with the provisions of the same normative act, is one of the institutions responsible for carrying out the public procurement corresponding to the projects included in the Investment Plan in Romania's defense industry”, says the SRI press release.
“SRI conducted the negotiation procedure and awarded the contract”
The same source states that “SRI has gone through the stages related to the award of the framework agreement” concluded with Digi Romania:
“As all public authorities empowered to make purchases under the SAFE Instrument have done, SRI:
- identified procurement needs and objectivesby reference to the legal attributions of the institution, but also to the objectives of the SAFE program;
- achieved market consultationto identify technical and financial solutions;
- A elaborated the award documentation.“
Later, the analysis document of the request for information, drawn up by the SRI, was sent for analysis and approval to the inter-institutional working group, CSAT and Parliament through the joint defense, public order and national security commissions.
“In application of the provisions of Article 19 of the SAFE Instrument and in accordance with the provisions of Article 4 paragraph (2) of GEO No. 62/2025, SRI conducted the negotiation procedure without the prior publication of a notice of participation and assigned the framework agreement to the economic operator Digi Romania”, it says at the end of the press release.
In the first reaction of the Secret Service related to the contract of 196 million euros from the European defense program SAFE, the SRI said that it was not the Secret Service, but the Chancellery of the Prime Minister that selected Digi. On Thursday evening, at Euronews, Bolojan claimed that the Government had no interference in the public procurement procedure.
Bolojan: “I only found out from the press opposite who signed”
Bolojan said that neither he nor the Government interfered in the negotiations between the suppliers and the contracting authorities.
“After, therefore, everyone negotiated the contract, at the end, they came up with the respective amount, with the contractor, and in the Government-level working group, which integrates all these procedures, a final approval was given, which meant that it was checked whether the destination of the allocated amount was respected and the amount in amount, but this working group had no interference in these negotiations, which were conducted directly, and the Government did not have any kind of discussion on the topic this, not even me personally, and I simply only found out from the press opposite who signed this contract”, added the interim prime minister.
He said that, in his opinion, the SRI and the other contracting authorities in the SAFE program must “explain as clearly as possible what happened,” because “otherwise confusion is created and people no longer understand what is happening.”
The contradictions between the SRI and the Victoria Palace
The steps of public communication of the institutions were:
- On Wednesday, when asked by HotNews, Mihai Jurca, head of Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan's cabinet and SAFE coordinator, said that “SRI proposed the platform”. Jurca added that the SRI chose how to make the purchase, because “the selection method is the attribute of the contracting authority”, meaning the attribute of the SRI. The same information had been provided to the HotNews audience by the Government, through its spokeswoman.
- On Thursday, in a press release, the SRI describes a reverse situation. SRI claims that Digi was selected under the coordination of Mihai Jurca. “The entire SAFE program is carried out under the coordination of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister. The identification and selection of suppliers for the projects financed by SAFE is carried out within the inter-institutional working group coordinated by the Head of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister”, states the Romanian Information Service.
- After the SRI statement, on Thursday evening, on Euronews, interim Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan defended the Government's position. Bolojan stated that “the conclusion of this contract between the Romanian Intelligence Service has nothing to do with the Government of Romania”.
In Thursday's press release, SRI also mentioned that “the identification and selection of suppliers for the projects financed by SAFE is carried out within the inter-institutional working group coordinated by the Head of the Prime Minister's Chancellery”, and “the list of selected suppliers is approved by the Supreme Council of National Defense”.
