The recent dispute over interior minister Daniel Lipsic’s decision to purchase a special independent police eavesdropping system could prove costly, even though the contract was cancelled.
The system would have enabled e the police to tap into any phone call it wished without any supervisory body checking it, which certain members of the coalition did not like.
Now, when queried by daily Pravda, the Ministry of Interior refused to comment on the subject of whether there would be some kind of contractual penalty to pay out to the contractor Orga Trade, or on how much this might be.
Interior ministry spokesman Gabor Grendel also refused to say whether or not the company Orga Trade had received any money for the short-lived contract, using confidentiality as an excuse. Information about payments is hardly a confidential issue, though, and so should be made public.
The Ministry will probably soon have to divulge the details of the procurement, though, given the pressure it can expect from various corners, such as the Fair Trade Alliance watchdog.