The Supreme Audit Institutions of Bulgaria and North Macedonia are building bridges through implementing a second Twinning Project
The Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) of Bulgaria and North Macedonia are building bridges between the two neighbour countries through the implementation of a second Twinning Project. The Project is titled “Improvement of external audit and Parliamentary oversight” with beneficiaries - the State Audit Office and the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia. The Bulgarian National Audit Office work on this project as junior partner in consortium with the State Audit Office of Croatia as lead partner. This is the second twinning project that the two SAIs jointly implement for the Republic of North Macedonia, as their roles in the consortium were swapped during the first twinning project.
The Project will be officially presented at a public event on July 8, 2021 in Skopje with the participation of the President of the Bulgarian National Audit Office Mr. Tzvetan Tzvetkov, Ms. Neda Rogosic, Deputy Auditor General of the Republic of Croatia, Mr. Talat Xhaferi, President of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia, Mr. Maksim Acevski, Auditor General of the Republic of North Macedonia, and Ambassador David Geer, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of North Macedonia. The event will also be attended online by representatives of the Parliament, the Government, the Prosecutor's Office and the Anti-Corruption Committee of North Macedonia as well as the Croatian and Bulgarian Embassies in Skopje.
The budget of the project amounts to 1.5 million euros. The project is a continuation of the recommendations made in the first twinning project - improvement of external audit in North Macedonia and its effectiveness, including through active cooperation between the State Audit Office and the Parliament, and also - to continue the processes of harmonization of regulations as well as to strengthen administrative capacity. The objective of the project is also to present the best practices of the EU Member States based on the international auditing standards, to develop inter-institutional and international cooperation and effective communication with all stakeholders, and ultimately - to contribute to transparency, accountability and better management of public funds.
The implementation of the project has started on February 1, 2021 with an implementation period of 21 months and will include participation of Bulgarian, Croatian, Estonian and German experts.
The Twinning project includes four Components:
Component 1: Enhanced legal framework relevant to external audit and improved SAO strategic and annual planning;
Component 2: Improved administrative capacities and external audit processes;
Component 3: Improved legislative scrutiny function of the Parliament based on processing and discussion of SAO audit reports;
Component 4: Improved external and internal communication and IT and IT audit capacities.
Through jointly implementing the project, the SAIs of North Macedonia, Croatia and Bulgaria are building bridges between the countries and between the institutions towards one main goal - improvement of the control over the lawful and effective management of public resources, which will ensure higher standard of living of the citizens. Cooperation between the Supreme Audit Institutions is becoming more important than ever, because the exchange of experience and the joint work could provide quick and adequate solutions to common or urgent problems, such as those that have already arisen in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. The BNAO President Mr. Tzvetan Tzvetkov expressed his hope that this cooperation will significantly improve the audit capacity of the State Audit Office of the Republic of North Macedonia, making the institution a driving force in the process of accession of North Macedonia to the European Union.
The event will be broadcasted at:
Online streaming – https://www.facebook.com/Delegation-of-the-European-Union-Skopje-199770503767478/?ref=page_internal
YouTube – https://youtube.com/channel/UCNOcjnJlIviFwaxyG-Lyo2w