The Court of Accounts participated in the PFCC meeting concerning the execution of the recommendations of the external public audit

The Court of Accounts of the Republic of Moldova (CoARM) participated today, March 30, in the meeting of the Parliamentary Public Finances Control Committee (PFCC), at the hearing of the institutions responsible for executing the PFCC’s decisions and implementing the CoARM’s recommendations issued throughout the the next audit reports:

The Compliance Audit Report of the privatization process of the State Enterprise “Air Moldova” Airline approved by the CoARM’s Decision no.73 from 13.12.2019;

The Compliance Audit Report of the conclusion and execution of the provisions of the Public-Private Partnership Contract for the concession of the assets of the S.E. "Chisinau International Airport" approved by the CoARM’s Decision no.1 from January 24, 2020;

The Compliance Audit Report of the public-private partnership related to the modernization and efficiency of the activity of the branches of the S.E. "Railway stations" approved by the CoARM’s Decision no.69 from November 27, 2019; and

The Compliance Audit Report of the sale-purchase process of the state shares held in JSC "Tutun-CTC" approved by the CoARM’s Decision no.71 from November 29, 2019.

During the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee, both the representatives of the institutions concerned and the representatives of the CoA were audited and presented the results of the implementation of the recommendations specified in the mentioned audit reports. Respectively, the Court of Accounts was represented by Viorel Chetraru, the Vice President of the CoA, the Members of the CoA - Petru Rotaru, Marina Covali, Andrei Munteanu, Eduard Moroșan, as well as the Heads of departments involved in the elaboration of the mentioned audit reports.

Regarding the Compliance Audit Report of the privatization process of the State Enterprise Air Company “Air Moldova”, approved by the CoA’s Decision no.73 from 13.12.2019, Marina Covali, Member of the CoA informed the Parliamentary Committee about the recommendations submitted to the entities included in the audit report, their implementation term being 6 months. Thus, out of 11 recommendations and requirements submitted, only 1 recommendation was executed, and 10 recommendations remained, practically, not implemented or are in the process of implementation, said Ms. Covali. In this context, the PFCC requested the Public Property Agency, together with the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure and the State Chancellery, to thoroughly analyze the causes of the certified situation, its effects on the good management of public assets and to eliminate all gaps and gaps in legislation. and regulations for the non-admission of alienations to the detriment of the state.

About the degree of implementation of the CoA’s recommendations related to the Audit Report on the compliance of the conclusion and execution of the provisions of the Public-Private Partnership Contract for the concession of the assets of the S.E. "Chisinau International Airport", approved by the CoARM’s Decision no.1 from January 24, 2020, reported Petru Rotaru, Member of the CoA and Sergiu Știrbu, Head of the General Audit Department. Thus, out of 17 recommendations submitted, 9 recommendations were partially implemented and 8 recommendations remained unimplemented, said Mr. Știrbu. The PFCC recommended to the Government to examine the possibility of initiating the procedure for renegotiating the concession contract of the assets under the management of S.E. "Chisinau International Airport" and their land, including the possibility of canceling the modernization fee.

Examining the degree of implementation of the recommendations submitted in the Compliance Audit Report of the realization of the public-private partnership related to the modernization and efficiency of the activity of the subsidiaries "Railway stations" approved by the CoARM’s Decision no.69 from November 27, 2019, the PFCC recommended to the Government to ensure the identification of the real beneficiary, responsible for the exact and rigorous fulfillment of all obligations arising from the current public-private partnership contract. Viorel Chetraru, Vice President of the CoA, spoke about the importance of implementing the 5 recommendations submitted by the CoA, noting that the situation is precarious, because only 1 recommendation was partially implemented and 4 recommendations were not implemented. Vasile Moșoi, Head of the General Audit Department, reported on the recommendations submitted to the Public Property Agency and the risks of not implementing them.

Also, the recommendations submitted in the Compliance Audit Report of the sale-purchase process of the state shares held in JSC “Tutun-CTC”, approved by the CoARM’s Decision no.71 from November 29, 2019, were examined. The PFCC’s Resolution from June 2020 stated that, “the financial situation of the company was intentionally worsened in order to be taken over for little money, in obscure conditions, and the legitimate interests of the state were not defended according to the basic principles of denationalization of public property ”.

With a brief foray on the implementation of the CoA's recommendations, Petru Rotaru, Member of the CoA, spoke, stating that 7 recommendations were submitted to the entities concerned in the audit report, namely, 1 recommendation - Ministry of Finance, 1 recommendation - Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure and 5 recommendations - Public Property Agency. Of the 7 recommendations, only 2 have been implemented, 5 recommendations are being implemented or partially implemented, mentioned Mr. Rotaru.

Finally, it was concluded that the degree of implementation of both the recommendations of the Public Finance Control Committee and the Court of Accounts is very low, the degree of responsibility of managers of public institutions being insufficient, respectively, it is necessary to strengthen internal managerial control, staff accountability and taking responsibility for the management of finances and public property.

Igor Munteanu, Chairman of the Public Finance Control Committee, mentioned that it is necessary to examine, within the PFCC, what kind of tools should be used in relation to the Executive, for those institutions to perform their functions correctly, and cooperation with the Court of Accounts to be fortified and to result in beneficial results.

The Court of Accounts examined the management of the patrimony and public finances by Ghidighici village

The sustainability of the state social insurance budget is influenced by the insufficiency of income, also determined by the phenomenon of „envelope wages”