SAIs of Bulgaria and Montenegro strive for effective cooperation with the parliaments of both countries

The Bulgarian National Audit Office will continue to make efforts to develop active cooperation with the National Assembly. Our main goal is that it is useful to both the legislative body and citizens, and budget organizations by conducting audits on topics of public importance and making constructive and appropriate recommendations to improve public sector governance. This was stated by Ms. Goritsa Grancharova-Kozhareva, Acting President of the Bulgarian National Audit Office, at the meeting with a delegation from the State Audit Institution of Montenegro, led by the Chairman of the Senate, Mr. Nikola Kovačević.

The delegation is on an official visit to our country at the invitation of the Bulgarian National Audit Office. The delegation also includes Dr. Milan Dabović - Member of the Senate of the State Audit Institution of Montenegro, and Ms. Dobrila Glomazić, Secretary of the State Audit Institution of Montenegro. On the Bulgarian side, the meeting was attended by the Vice-President Toshko Todorov, Toma Donchev - Director of the Audit Activity Development Directorate, Kosta Stoyanchev - Advisor to the President, and Maya Todorova - Head of the International Activity Department.

The need for effective interaction of the audit institutions with the Parliament was one of the main topics discussed during the meeting. Both officials acknowledged that increasing the interest of the legislature in the audit results remains a challenge. The Bulgarian National Audit Office sends to the Parliament not only the audits entrusted by law, the annual report and the annual programme, the audits mandated by the legislative body, but also many other audits with significant findings, conclusions and recommendations. In 2023, 20 audit reports were sent to the National Assembly, of which 6 - to the President of the National Assembly, and 14 - to various committees in the National Assembly, Ms Grancharova said. Over the last 6 years, the Bulgarian National Audit Office has been assigned 6 audits by the Parliament. Mr. Kovačević, for his part, informed the hosts about the efforts made by the State Audit Institution of Montenegro in this direction and the signed Protocol for Cooperation with the Parliament. He specified, however, that there are negative findings at the EU level regarding the lack of monitoring of the recommendations of the State Audit Institution by the Parliament, as well as findings of international professional organisations for violation of basic principles of the work of the of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs).  

Both institutions achieve a high level of implementation of the audit institutions recommendations to the audited organizations - around 80 percent. For the remaining 20 percent, several additional follow-ups are required, and in our case they sometimes reach 4-5 until the final implementation of all recommendations in a given audit, said Mr. Todorov. In the State Audit Institution of Montenegro there are even cases of 7-8 follow-ups for the implementation of recommendations, Mr Kovacevic clarified.

The other main topic of the discussions was the management of the quality control of the audit activities. The Bulgarian National Audit Office works under the national legislation and international auditing standards, adapting the professional standards to the national requirements. We have developed processes for the management of risk, human resources and information security, the budget process and a Code of Ethics, as well as good practice to prepare a summary report on financial audits with the main weaknesses identified, Mr. Donchev said.  Ms. Glomazić shared that the State Audit Institution of Montenegro has adopted a Quality Control Management Strategy for the period 2024-2027, which is about to be implemented.

The meeting also highlighted the very productive bilateral cooperation built up between the audit institutions over the years.

The delegation from the State Audit Institution of Montenegro, together with their Bulgarian hosts, visited Veliko Tarnovo and met with Dr. Eng. Daniel Panov, Chairman of the Managing Board of the National Association of the Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria and Mayor of Veliko Tarnovo. During the meeting, Ms. Grancharova emphasized the great importance of the interaction of the audit institution with the municipalities for achievement of good management of public funds at a local level. She specified that municipalities are the most numerous category of audited organizations, a large part of them are subject to an annual financial audit and also a compliance audit, which examines compliance with the legal framework. The Bulgarian National Audit Office seeks to support the municipalities methodologically and with an ongoing control to improve their financial reporting, emphasized Ms. Grancharova.

The National Association of the Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria, for its part, is also an effective platform for sharing good governance practices at a local level, and a partner in the efforts for efficient spending of public finances, said during the meeting Dr. Eng. Daniel Panov.