The launch of Romania’s Single Digital Gateway (SDG), a EUR 23 million centralised platform (portal) that provides users with a single point of access to digital services, information, and procedures of public institutions at national and European level, was deferred for March, according to the Authority for the Digitalisation of Romania (ADR), contacted by Hotnews.ro. 

In an interview with Europa Libera Romania on January 27, deputy prime minister Oana Gheorghiu said that the government’s cloud, which should host the SDG, would be ready “this summer.”  

She also mentioned a “digital wallet” – a thing not yet defined, that would include, besides the ID card, someone’s key documents such as diplomas, the health card, and so on – ready by the end of the year. Until then, the holders of new ID cards (e-cards) can hardly demonstrate their address, which is encrypted and not visible on the physical ID card.

The advantage of the year-end deadline is that it can be deferred by April 2027 – when the ministers will be changed and the deadlines reset. Deputy PM Gheorgiu mentioned she does not plan to keep her seat after the prime ministership shift from PNL to PSD.

One of the elements integrated by the SDG is the platform of the Trade Registry (ONRC), partly developed by the SDG’s main supplier (Maguay Computers), which is not yet fully functional more than a year after delivery, while the EUR 38 million contract attached is investigated by the anti-corruption prosecutors. The investigative platform Public Record reported major irregularities in the implementation of the still-not-fully-functional ONRC platform.

The initial deadline for SDG implementation was September 18, 2025, and was deferred to December in the first stage. Expectations for the functionality of the SDG platform, based on experience with broad public digital platforms of smaller complexity, such as that of the Trade Registry (ONRC) or National Health Insurance House (CNAS), are rather moderate.

The SDG should be a gateway for the public administration’s already functional services (developed independently but to be migrated to a centralised cloud) and host services for the public institutions that do not provide online services at this moment. Furthermore, the SDG should be integrated into the "Your Europe" portal, available throughout the European Union, in all official languages.

The new IT portal will replace the Single Electronic Contact Point (PCUe), administered by the Authority for the Digitalisation of Romania, with a new platform, aligned with European regulations for the Single Digital Gateway.

The contract for the implementation of the SDG of Romania (PDURo), a project worth RON 96 million (excluding VAT), was signed on March 19, 2024, by Bogdan Ivan, minister of digitalisation at that time (currently minister of energy) – with a consortium of companies led by Maguay Computers. The project is part of investment I1, "Implementation of government cloud infrastructure" from Component 7 Digital Transformation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR).

Experience with Trade Registry’s platform calls for cautious expectations about the SDG.

The Trade Registry’s online platform, an element to be integrated into the SDG, was launched in 2024 when it caused major service disruptions and exposed personal data, according to reporting by OCCRP member centre Public Record. It is now operating with intermittent failures and is under an anticorruption probe following audits revealing mismanagement and security lapses.

Draft audits by the National Court of Auditors and the Justice Ministry found serious problems, according to OCCRP and Public Record. Auditors said the system was launched before proper testing, that the agency never received its source code, and that security and functionality checks were incomplete. Investigators estimated losses of more than RON 12 million (EUR 2.4 million) because penalties were not enforced for delays and faulty testing.

Most of the RON 189 million for the ONRC platform, namely RON.138 million (EUR 27 million), went to Vodafone Romania, Maguay Computers, and Total Soft, according to Public Record reporting on the case. 

The programmers at Total Soft were the ones who were still working on the software, although its reception had been done by Vodafone and ONRC, who had concluded that everything was ready, in an official document.

iulian@romania-insider.com

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