Ministry asks Court of Appeal to suspend payments for Microsoft licenses in Romanian state institutions

The Ministry for the Information Society (MSI) asked the Bucharest Court of Appeal at end- 2014, to suspend the payments provided in a contract from April 2013 for Microsoft licenses used in many public institutions. "Following an analysis carried out by a MSI commission at the end of 2014 we have decided that we have a series of reasons to ask the court to suspend the payments provided for in a contract concluded in April 2013. We asked the court to tell us whether or not these reasons are compelling, as resulting from our internal analysis," said Sorin Grindeanu, the Information Society Minister. In mid-December, after being endorsed to take the lead of the MSI, Grindeanu said that deferring the RON 50 million (EUR 11 million) payment for the Microsoft licenses, which had to be paid in October, will generate 0.1% penalties for each day of delay starting January 1, 2015. Former Romanian education minister Ecaterina Andronescu questioned by DNA in Microsoft licenses case Romanian Minister: No payments for Microsoft licenses, investigation could extend Who is Nicolae Dumitru, the Romanian businessman arrested in the Microsoft IT licenses case? Former Romanian communications minister, three others, arrested in the Microsoft IT licenses case Diana Mesesan, diana@romania-insider.com