ORGANISATIONS running under the Finance Ministry and social insurer Sociálna Poisťovňa paid altogether €8 million for additional software licenses from Oracle to a company called Indexer, which was selected by Oracle to serve as a middleman without any competition, even though it was not the only company that could sell such licenses.
Indexer is owned by Juraj Polák, a former adviser of the Finance Ministry. Neither the state nor Oracle have explained why the Finance Ministry purchased the software in this way, the Sme daily reported in its October 22 issue.
Though Finance Minister Peter Kažimír dismissed Polák shortly after information about dubious business practices appeared on the internet, he has not cancelled any previous contracts, according to Sme.
Oracle confirmed that Indexer was the only company that was licensed to check the legality of the software for the state administration, which was required before selling it to the state. However, Oracle added that the state could also buy software from someone else. Oracle was fined in the US for selling software through a third party in a similar way, Sme wrote.
Sme however wrote that Indexer was not the only company entitled to check the software, but that it took advantage of the fact that Oracle did not have any trained, Slovak-speaking auditors. Therefore, Indexer was the only company that could communicate with state officers. Indexer received the necessary certificates in February 2011 and August 2012, Sme reported.
Moreover, Oracle has not answered the question of how it selects third parties through which to sell products to state administrations, and how it is dealing with suspicions of corruption pertaining to transactions done through third party companies, Sme wrote.
Source: Sme
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
