Key conclusions
State audit is one of the main institutions of public confidence
“Audit is one of the main institutions of trust that creates understanding in the society – everything that was paid as a tax, can be effective,” Alexey Kudrin, Chairman, Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation.
“The Accounts Chamber, as a state audit body, enjoys great confidence among the people in Russia. It is not just a controlling body, but has become a real state auditor. What does it mean? The Accounts Chamber gives its opinions on almost all draft laws that exist... We have daily, constant contact,” Alexander Zhukov, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.
“Our main task is to serve the interests of citizens; therefore, our Accounts Chamber is part of the political structure of the government. But at the same time, it also works independently. Independence is a very important element. <...> We must do our work objectively, therefore we must be independent. We consider it one of the most important elements: openness, transparency, accountability, independence of our institutions in the public sector,” Harib Al Amimi, President, Supreme Audit Institution of the United Arab Emirates.
State audit is constantly expanding the range of its tasks in order to improve control; it is important to use world experience for its development in Russia
“Building effective state governance and interaction cannot be done in isolation. No matter what difficulties arise, we exist in the world, in the global space; international experiences, international practices are very important for us,” Vladimir Mau, Rector, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA).
“Now we are expanding our portfolio of the types audits, which we call “strategic audit”. Strategic audit provides us with systemic proposals on how to improve public administration. And we see this as our mission, to complement financial audit with strategic audit. These provisions were included in the law on the Accounts Chamber in 2011. And they have become a better-known trend in the world for evaluating the work, first of all, of governments,” Alexey Kudrin, Chairman, Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation.
PROBLEMS
There are no mechanisms for correcting state programmes that are not sufficiently effective. The state audit system is not sufficiently flexible for modern realities
“For seven years, the Ministry of Economic Development and the Government have been ranking programmes in their reports according to their own criteria. There are programmes that have received a negative assessment, and they are not systematically implemented, but continue to receive support and funding. There is not enough adjustment of programmes,” Alexey Kudrin, Chairman, Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation.
“This [state audit] system should work effectively at all times, especially now in times of volatility, uncertainty, and conflicts. It is at these times that the control system takes on special importance, and it is important to understand that this system should work most reliably. We benefited from the implementation of a flexible process in order to ensure reliable quality work in a wide variety of conditions, especially those that change very quickly and unexpectedly,” Harib Al Amimi, President, Supreme Audit Institution of the United Arab Emirates.
“We must now develop new approaches in the new conditions, in the conditions of a new reality, the changes that we see on the world stage,” Hesham Badawy, President, Accountability State Authority of the Arab Republic of Egypt.
SOLUTIONS
Activation of the work with the population in order to strengthen civilian control over the activities of the state, conducting analysis in order to help legislators in the adoption of effective programmes
“There is also a feeling of the taxpayer, whose role is to ask the state for what it has done. Moving towards this systemic audit and evaluation of the result means that every rouble should have a purpose,” Alexey Kudrin, Chairman, Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation.
“An even greater openness and access to correct, verified information for users would be the response to more open social media. Here we go beyond financial audit, beyond financial reporting… Companies should think more and more about their position in society… business must first of all think about society, about its position in society as a guarantee of long-term prosperity of said business. <…> The secret of trust in any company is the company’s human resources,” Igor Lotakov, Managing Partner, Technologies of Trust.
“The Accounts Chamber analyses all state programmes in great detail and with care. We have recently received such a report, and any legislator can see how any of the state programmes is being implemented. And not only from the point of view of the budgetary funds spent, but also from the point of view of achieving the final result. <...> This gives the legislator a very serious tool in budget planning. <...> During the budget process the deputies make decisions in many respects based on this analysis,” Alexander Zhukov, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.
Implementation and use of all modern technologies in state audit
“The fundamental element that guarantees flexibility is the use of the most modern technologies that provide quick access to information and process it quickly. <...> We are trying to build trust between the state and citizens, we are trying to make people understand that the money, the public money, the people's money is used correctly, spent on infrastructure, education, healthcare,” Harib Al Amimi, President, Supreme Audit Institution of the United Arab Emirates.
“We are expanding our activities, currently developing its digital component. <...> Strengthening the digital economy is the main requirement that public sector enterprises face. Our goal is to improve the standard of living of the people and satisfy their interests; this is the task facing our administration, too,” Hesham Badawy, President, Accountability State Authority of the Arab Republic of Egypt.
For more information, visit the Roscongress Foundation’s Information and Analytical System at roscongress.org/en
