site.btaOver EUR 1 Bln Spent on ICT, E-Government Development between 2020 and 2025

More than EUR 1.093 billion was spent between 2020 and 2025 on the development of information and communications technology (ICT) and e-Government, Innovation and Digital Transformation Minister Ivan Vasilev said at a briefing at the Council of Ministers on Wednesday, responding to an open letter sent to PM Rumen Radev by ICT industry organizations. Vasilev explained that EUR 777 million of the total was awarded outside the system integration framework, directly through the market in which the companies that signed the letter operate.

According to Vasilev, EUR 315 million was spent on system integration activities over the past five years. He added that companies belonging to one of the industry associations had received an additional EUR 61 million through public procurement contracts.

"We have introduced full traceability for every euro the state spends on software and are tightening the rules governing access to sensitive data belonging to Bulgarian citizens. We understand that this may be inconvenient for some, but we are working to accomplish the tasks that are important for Bulgaria," Vasilev said.

The Minister also commented on the open letter's claim that the state was shutting Bulgarian ICT companies out of the market, saying that official data for the 2020-2025 period showed that this claim was untrue.

A private company manages the state's human resources management system and issue’s identity documents for Bulgarians abroad, Vasilev further said. The same private company also collects, stores and manages all information related to drivers, vehicles and road traffic violations, he added. According to Vasilev, the company "also knows who is staying at which hotel". Asked to identify the company, the Minister said that public contracts had been awarded in a chaotic manner and that its name can be found in the Integrated Citizen Monitoring and Analysis System (SIGMA) system. SIGMA provides real-time visibility into how and where public funds are being spent.

Vasilev stressed that oversight of such activities would be tightened. "We are tightening our criteria and rules," he assured.