The SRI says that not they, but the Group coordinated by the head of the Prime Minister's Chancellery did the “identification and selection” of the Digi company for the 196 million euro SAFE contract
The SRI replied, in the first reaction of the secret service related to the 196 million euro contract from the European defense program SAFE. After the Government claimed that the Service chose Digi, the SRI officially contradicts the Government.
- And Orange says it learned from the press that it has the best European cyber security division.
Two public institutions, the Romanian Information Service and the Chancellery of the Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, are contradicting themselves in a continuation of the case of awarding the cyber security contract worth 196 million euros for Digi Romania.
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 press release, on Thursday evening, on Euronews, interim Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan stated that “the conclusion of this contract between the Romanian Intelligence Service has nothing to do with the Government of Romania”.
SRI: “The targeted platform responds to a real and assumed need”
The Romanian Information Service claims that the decision to choose the Digi company was taken “in full compliance with the legislation applicable to the SAFE program (…), but also with the specific legislation on public procurement”.
“The targeted platform responds to a real and assumed need to strengthen national cyber security capabilities, in a context of growing threats, and the full implementation of the project on Romanian territory contributes to the development of local technological skills”, SRI explained in a press release.
The institution specified that the project “will be implemented in stages over a period of four years”.
“The project aims to increase the efficiency and speed of reaction by automating some complex processes of analysis and investigation of cyber security incidents, aspects that will contribute to strengthening the protection of critical infrastructures and public institutions, as well as to the development of national capabilities in the fields of artificial intelligence and cyber security”, SRI also said.
“The project is proceeding according to the Defense Industry Investment Plan”
The service said that, in the cyber security strategy, Romania “assumed the development of “capabilities and mechanisms to deter cyber attacks that affect society or national security interests” and the application of all “necessary proactive measures, which aim to ensure the resilience of networks and information systems”.
“The project is carried out according to the Investment Plan in the defense industry of Romania, a Plan approved by the CSAT and which includes references to the amounts allocated to each institution of the National Defense System, Public Order and National Security with attributions within the SAFE plan,” the SRI press release also says.
The 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”.
Through the instrument called “Action for the Security of Europe”, or SAFE, Romania benefits from an allocation of 16.68 billion euros for the acquisition of military or dual-use equipment, as well as for dual infrastructure.
These are 45-year loans, with an interest rate of 3%, lower than the conditions on the free market, and with a grace period of 10 years – that is, we will make the first repayments only from 2036.
Digi, about the contract signed with SRI
In a reaction on Wednesday afternoon, Digi Romania said that “the agreement has a total value of up to 196 million euros” and “comprises both hardware and software components and takes place in stages over a period of 4 years”.
DIGI Romania has signed a framework agreement with the Romanian Information Service for the development of a data center and integrated platforms for the evaluation of LLM-type artificial intelligence models, specialized in the field of cyber security, a project carried out through the SAFE/Readiness 2030 program. DIGI has fulfilled the applicable requirements in the public procurement process carried out according to the legal provisions in force”, Digi communicated on Wednesday.
The SRI press release:
