Interior Minister Sutaj Estok Rejects Criticism of Computer Procurement

Bratislava, May 12 (TASR) - Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD) has rejected criticism of a computer procurement, explaining at Monday's press conference that it concerns a framework agreement for upgrading IT equipment across the entire public administration and emphasising the need for replacement and a high return on investment. "It's a task from the government's manifesto and a government resolution that gave the Interior Ministry the role of carrying out a comprehensive audit of the state of IT equipment in public administration, and based on that, of taking steps towards renewing it. That's why we procured a framework agreement for the entire state and public administration, from which all ministries can purchase the mentioned equipment. Under the contract, five companies are signed on and will compete with each other for every purchase," he explained. The minister stressed that the contract amount, €326 million, is a framework that provides the opportunity to replace equipment across the entire public administration. "For example, if the Health Ministry decides that it needs to purchase five computers, an auction will take place in which the five contracted companies will compete by submitting their offers. The price will go down, as it has been proven that prices consistently decrease in such cases," he said. "We plan initially to purchase computers worth €5 million, but we expect the price to drop via electronic auction. This step will affect over 46,000 ministry employees," he said. The minister also highlighted a high return on investment, stating that replacing equipment worth €5 million could cut energy costs by around 30 percent, maintenance by 20 percent and security incident handling by about 50 percent. lin/df