What are audit reports for: Punish those who spend budget money suspiciously immediately

Audit reports of the BiH Institutions' Audit Office are on the agenda of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament, and Deputy General Auditor Ranko Krsman addressed the representatives, writes Patria.

- A tendency has been observed to implement simpler recommendations, while recommendations requiring the engagement of multiple institutions unfortunately remain unimplemented. We want to focus the attention of the BiH Parliament on systemic findings and recommendations. The Office has conducted audits for 74 institutions. Five performance audits were also carried out. Implementation of recommendations needs to be strengthened. 70 recommendations were given for 2015, and 19 recommendations for 2014. We believe that the implementation of recommendations is particularly about systemic strengthening and public money management – Krsman stated.

It is necessary to hold accountable those who illegally spend the budget, Krsman noted.

- The issue of accountability, as a core issue, must be raised to a higher level and influence the degree of implementation of recommendations – Krsman stated.

Salko Solkolović (SDA) said that inaction, for example within the Council of Ministers, leads to the non-implementation of recommendations.

- Why are salary compensation payments to police officers made illegally, when it could have been introduced into law through legal solutions. This leaves room for problems. We do not influence the reduction of recommendations, and we do so through our inaction – Sokolović stated.

In the discussion about the BiH Institutions' Audit Office Report on the audit of the execution of the Budget of Institutions and International Obligations of Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2015, Mirsad Isaković, an SBB party representative, addressed the fact that the preparation of audit reports with the recommendations given by auditors has lost its purpose.

Isaković reminded that only between 50 and 60 percent of audit recommendations are implemented in BiH, while this standard is above 90 percent in the European Union. Therefore, Isaković believes that the implementation of recommendations in all BiH institutions should be improved.

Pointing out the data that out of 74 audited BiH institutions last year, five received a qualified opinion with a warning, one institution received a qualified opinion, and 67 institutions received a positive opinion, of which 40 received a positive opinion with a warning. Isaković emphasized that the situation where five institutions receive a qualified opinion has been repeating for over 10 years, and nothing is being done to improve such a situation. Moreover, Isaković stressed that precisely these five institutions spend 50 percent of the budget funds.

- Among them is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which for years has not adopted the extremely important law on foreign affairs that BiH still lacks. Auditors have been pointing this out for years. The same problems constantly arise, such as those with service contracts, travel expenses, and financial operations. I believe it is necessary for these five institutions with qualified opinions to create a program for eliminating deficiencies – Isaković said.

Mensura Beganović (DF) says that some things surprised her.

- I support the conclusions of the Finance Committee, but many recommendations have been implemented, but they start with the simplest ones. Since 2013, specifically in the Indirect Taxation Authority (UIO), the recommendations stated that more transparent work regarding VAT debtors was needed, but there has been no implementation to date. Recommendations for managing confiscated goods are also being discussed. We easily resort to borrowing, and values are deteriorating because it is not systematically regulated – Beganović said.