According to the procurement notice published in the public procurement registry, the purpose of the framework procurement is to acquire servers, network devices, storage arrays and their components, software, licenses, product support extensions and related services.

In Estonia, the Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs is responsible for the digital sector and ERR asked Minister Liisa Pakosta (Eesti 200) about the reasons behind the large scale of this procurement.

Pakosta explained that this is a cross-agency framework procurement for state IT facilities, meaning that approximately €8 million of the total is expected to be used this year. She noted that a framework procurement is essentially a general agreement that allows different institutions to carry out specific procurements later.

"The framework procurement amount does not mean that this entire sum will be spent over four years; rather, it represents the potential maximum volume. The amount was set higher due to the current security situation. For instance, if there were an urgent need to acquire additional server space in Luxembourg, this framework agreement would enable a quick purchase," she said.

Large-scale procurements are usually planned well in advance, but former Ministry of Justice Secretary General Tõnis Saar — whom Pakosta dismissed in early February citing an inability to cooperate — said that no such procurement was included in any previous plans, making it a surprise. He was therefore unaware of this specific framework agreement but described the €100 million budget as unexpected.

"Having previously overseen this sector, I find this figure quite alarming," Saar said.

Pakosta emphasized that this is a framework procurement, meaning that its full volume may never be realized.

"The exact needs of state IT facilities will become clearer by the end of the year, as they depend on various factors, including the lifecycle of equipment and other operational requirements," the digital minister added.

She also pointed out that the Ministry of the Interior is one of the parties to the framework procurement. If new civil protection responsibilities are assigned to the ministry, the scope of procurements under this framework can be adjusted within the current year.

The minister further stated that the framework procurement for all state IT agencies is not decided by the ministry, nor does the ministry control the majority of their budgets. According to Pakosta, the Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs did not specifically discuss this framework procurement, as such technical procurements fall under the competence of the relevant agencies. This was also the case when these matters were under the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications. She confirmed that the State Information and Communication Technology Center (RIT) is organizing the central framework procurement for IT facilities purely for efficiency reasons.

According to RIT's communications manager, Maria Juurmaa, the framework procurement will enable various state IT agencies — including RIT, the Information System Authority (RIA), the Information Technology Center of the Ministry of Finance (RMIT), the IT and Development Center of the Ministry of the Interior (SMIT), the IT Center of the Ministry of the Environment (KeMIT) and the Center for Registers and Information Systems (RIK) — to acquire the necessary equipment and services to maintain IT infrastructure.

"The operation, security and sustainability of state information systems depend on reliable and up-to-date infrastructure. In our agency's context, these devices support the state cloud and government workstation services, which are essential for the daily operations, service provision and data storage needs of many government institutions," Juurmaa explained.

She added that using a framework procurement makes the process more efficient, as agencies do not have to conduct separate large-scale procurement procedures.

"A joint procurement is more cost-effective, reduces administrative costs and enables fast, competitive bids through mini-competitions," Juurmaa said.

Bids for the framework procurement can be submitted until the end of March, and according to the public procurement registry, the contract — expected to last four years — could take effect in mid-May.

The sole criterion for awarding the contract is the lowest price.

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