The SAIs of Bulgaria and North Macedonia fulfilled their mission to be the а successful example for fruitful cooperation

The Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) of Bulgaria and North Macedonia fulfilled their mission to be the first and extremely successful example for all other institutions in both countries of how fruitful cooperation can be achieved through the exchange of professional experience and knowledge. The inter-institutional partnership can become an important and stable bridge leading to friendship and the achievement of the set goals - both countries to be part of the European Union together.

This was the main conclusion accomplished during a bilateral meeting held today at the Bulgarian National Audit Office (BNAO) headquarters. The meeting was attended by Tzvetan Tzvetkov, President of the BNAO, Maxim Acevski, the Auditor General of the Republic of North Macedonia, the two Vice - Presidents of the BNAO Goritsa Grancharova and Toshko Todorov, and other representatives from the two SAIs. The meeting was also attended by the ambassador of North Macedonia in Bulgaria, H.E. Agnesa Popovska and Vanya Andreeva-Malakova - Director of the "Southeastern Europe" Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Tzvetan Tzvetkov and Maxim Acevski expressed their satisfaction with the results under the Twinning project "Improvement of external Audit and Parliamentary oversight". Both of them emphasized that the successful implementation was possible thanks to the openness, honesty and sincerity of the colleagues from both SAIs while sharing knowledge, difficulties and challenges at work.

Our cooperation aims not only to improve the quality of the audit activity, but also to improve the lives of citizens in both countries through our audits. The society and citizens expect quality services and added value as a result of the funds spent,  the Parliament needs to exercise control in achieving the goals set by the governments and effective management of the public sector, and also, the audited entities perceive our recommendations as assistance to improve their activity, emphasized Tzvetan Tzvetkov.

The Auditor General, Maxim Acevski stated that successful results were accomplished and new products developed regarding all four components of the Twinning project - in the field of the legal framework, methodology, audit activity, cooperation with the Parliament, and communication with the stakeholders.

The friendly relations that were built between the colleagues from the two SAIs helped immensely for the excellent implementation of all indicators and goals for the current Twinning project and for the previous one, stated Vyara Angelova and Tania Yanevska, Project leaders from the SAIs of Republic of Bulgaria and North Macedonia. The SAIs of Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Croatia implemented two Twinning projects together worth a total of 2.9 million euro.

On 12th of October 2022, a Cooperation Agreement was signed between the National Audit Office of the Republic of Bulgaria and the State Audit Office of the Republic of North Macedonia.

The Cooperation Agreement is a continuation of long-standing and successful cooperation between the two SAIs. The initiatives set in the Cooperation Agreement aim to further enhance and ensure sustainability of the results achieved under the two Twinning projects.

The Agreement also aims to find new areas and outline new horizons in the partnership between the two SAIs.

The main areas and forms of cooperation in the Agreement will include the exchange of experience, organization of activities on issues of mutual interest, including consultations, seminars, round tables, conferences related to external audit in the public sector, parallel, coordinated and joint audits.

Later, the heads of both SAIs, met with the Bulgarian Prime Minister Galab Donev. They introduced the acting Prime Minister to the main goals of the Twinning project, the achieved results, as well as the possibilities for continued cooperation between the two SAIs within the framework of the already signed agreement. The meeting was also attended by Toshko Todorov, Vice - President of the BNAO, and the Ambassador of North Macedonia to Bulgaria H.E. Agnesa Popovska.