Thanks to everyone who helped me figure out the situation surrounding this miracle social network commissioned by the Ministry of Health and Social Development, priced at 55 million rubles (about $2 million at the time) and supposedly to be built in 16 days. The opinions are completely unanimous: it’s a scam. You cannot build a site like this in 16 days. The deadline was set to squeeze out competitors. Very good business. Dream up some insane nonsense about a social network for doctors and patients. Find some crooked partners. Set an outrageously high price. Rig the tender conditions so nobody but the crooks can get through. Take 25% off the crooks. Bury the resulting 13 million rubles under a tree at the dacha. The crooks build something worth 2 million rubles. Keep the rest. That’s how modernization works here, my friends. That’s the kind of innovation city we’re building. If President Medvedev, when he visited Silicon Valley, had told people there that his government makes websites costing $2 million in 16 days, he would have greatly entertained the local audience. They’re pouring a damn ton of budget money into Skolkovo (Russia’s state-backed innovation hub) and everything else. Why? The logic goes like this: Silicon Valley rose on government contracts, and so will we. Well, here is an example of how government contracting works in our country. Without fencing off a special garden around Skolkovo and modernization, there is already a contract. Two million dollars. Award it honestly. Let some bespectacled programmers get it. It would keep their company alive for a couple of years and let them invent something brilliant. But no. Standing in the way of this beautiful idea is Oleg Simakov, head of the IT department at the Ministry of Health and Social Development.
His eyebrows, like the Golden Fleece in ancient Colchis, block the rivers of budget money. Every grain of gold sticks to those eyebrows. That is why hungry programmers pack up and go work in America, while Oleg Simakov, after first delivering a fat envelope stuffed with €500 notes to his boss, buys himself a little house in Spain. That’s how modernization works in Russia. And President Medvedev, staring into his iPad as if it were a magic crystal, can do nothing about it. All right then. That was a lyrical digression, and now, as usual, let’s focus on practical matters. Those who want to tug Oleg Simakov by the eyebrows can read below. Go here: http://www.fas.gov.ru/contact-fas/feedback/ 2. Enter your name, email, and обязательно your postal address. In the "message subject" field, write: "Violations in the organization of government procurement". In the "message text" field, copy and paste: Complaint. On the official Russian Federation website for publishing procurement information, at http://zakupki.gov.ru/Tender/ViewPurchase.aspx?PurchaseId=896150 р a tender has been posted for the right to conclude a state contract for work on creating a social network for medical professionals and patients based on the portal of the chief external specialists of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation. Notice number: 101005/001550/469. I believe that the initiator of this procurement and the organizer of the tender — the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation — have grossly violated the current laws of the Russian Federation regulating state procurement. According to the terms of the published tender, the required “social network” is supposed to be a complex electronic portal handling not only substantial information databases, but also citizens’ personal data, which require additional protection under Russian law. However, according to the tender terms, the entire scope of work must be completed within 16 days from the signing of the state contract. This deadline is obviously unrealistic and was most likely set in order to reduce the number of potential bidders, which in turn may be the result of criminal collusion between officials of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation and unidentified persons planning to participate in this tender. In addition, the technical specification contains a number of references to specific trademarks and products, which also contradicts current legislation. For example: "Creation and management of the Customer’s information-analytical system database shall be carried out using ORACLE 10g Database Server." "Web server with installed software: Operating system Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2. Microsoft IIS 6.0." I would also note that in his interview published at http://www.cnews.ru/news/top/index.shtml?2010/10/08/411551 д, Oleg Simakov, director of a department at the Ministry of Health and Social Development, directly states that the reason for setting such a short contract performance period was that "the regulatory document on creating the social network was issued only 10 days ago, while completed projects must be reported by the end of the financial year, that is, by mid-December." This statement may also be regarded as confirmation that violations occurred in preparing the tender conditions, since the deadlines by which Mr. Simakov must report and other peculiarities of his work cannot serve as grounds for breaking the law and taking ill-considered actions that harm citizens and the state. In view of the above, I request that you: Verify the facts set out in this complaint, involving appropriate experts in the review. Take measures to cancel the above-mentioned open tender (Notice number 101005/001550/469) on the website zakupki.gov.ru. Hold accountable the officials responsible for the above-mentioned gross violations of Russian law. Forward the review materials to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation and to law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation with a request to investigate possible criminal collusion involving officials of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation. Inform me of the measures taken in the prescribed manner. As usual, any corrections/improvements to the complaint text are welcome. I agree in advance that "a complex electronic portal handling not only substantial information databases" sounds idiotic, but I didn’t know how else to phrase it, and I don’t think it’s crucial. For now, I don’t see much point in writing to the prosecutor’s office or the cops — they’ll send it to the Federal Antimonopoly Service anyway — but if anyone wants to, go ahead. You can’t have too much of a good thing. I’ll be very surprised if the antimonopoly people don’t kill this tender. If that does happen, we’ll think about what to do next. Thanks to everyone who takes part. And, as always with actions like this, publicity and links are welcome. UPDATE. THANKS, EVERYONE. NO NEED TO WRITE ANY MORE. THE TENDER HAS BEEN CANCELED.