Former Minister of Communications of Romania was put for kickbacks when installing MS Office in schools. Is Russia next?

Former Romanian Minister of Communications and Telecommunications, Gabriel Sandu, was sentenced to two years in prison for money laundering, abuse of office and bribery in the case of buying Microsoft software licenses. Three mediators who assisted the minister also received their dates: the former mayor of the city of Pyatra-Neamt (region of Moldova) and two businessmen. These four must pay compensation totaling € 10 million.

The hearing in the Supreme Court of Appeal has been going since October 2015. The defendants pleaded guilty, hoping to reduce the sentence by a third. They used their position to persuade the government to purchase licenses for Microsoft software in 2009, and also took bribes (kickbacks) from people interested in entering into a contract.

In particular, Sandu received a € 3 million pullback and asked for another € 1.3 million to guarantee the deal.
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The prosecutor's office announced corruption under contracts for software licenses of MS Office for 2004-2009 for installation in schools, the total amount of the contract was about $ 105 million. The defendants appropriated a 47% discount, which Microsoft offered to the Romanian government.

The investigation revealed that out of the $ 54 million that the government allocated to pay for the contract and its prolongation, officials received about $ 20 million in the form of “commissions”.

The prosecutor’s office emphasized that although Microsoft’s programs are central to the case, Microsoft itself is not convicted of crimes. Of course, giving a discount cannot be considered a bribe.

According to rumors , similar lawsuits in connection with contracts for the purchase of Microsoft programs are being prepared in several other countries, including Russia. Corresponding articles are also in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: money laundering (article 174 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), abuse of power (article 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and taking bribes (article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).