Deputies and auditors will meet more often – Picture of the Day – Kommersant

The State Duma on Thursday heard a report on the work of the Accounts Chamber (AC) for 2022. For the first time, this report was presented to the deputies not by the chairman of the joint venture, but by O. heads Galina Izotova. The work of the department was approved unanimously, however, Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin was not satisfied with all the questions of his colleagues and even suggested that some of them did not know their powers well enough. In this regard, the speaker suggested fixing in the Duma regulations the practice of mandatory meetings of parliamentarians with the head of the joint venture and auditors on the eve of the annual report. However, the deputies assured Kommersant that such conversations are already held regularly.

And about. Chairman of the joint venture Galina Izotova (the new head of the chamber after the resignation of Alexei Kudrin in November 2022 has not yet been appointed) began her speech with words about “the current international situation and unprecedented sanctions pressure.” “Now, in almost all of our reports, an assessment of the impact of the sanctions imposed against our country both on the activities of the objects of inspection themselves and on the economy as a whole, especially on high-tech and science-intensive ones, has appeared,” she explained. The department did not abandon the topic of coronavirus either: in 2022, work continued on assessing the effectiveness of budget spending on fighting the infection. And since the beginning of the special military operation, auditors have been “promptly” participating in the verification of expenditures for it. Later they will be checked again “as part of a set of control measures for the execution of the budget for 2022.”

Ms. Izotova also said that, on behalf of the deputies, the methodology of inspections in the financial and budgetary sphere was changed. “We focused primarily on systemic violations and shortcomings,” she said, adding that they are usually caused by “lack of regulation.”

In total, in 2022, the joint venture completed 338 events, including 23 inspections at the request of the Duma.

Violations were revealed for 886 billion rubles, most of which are accounted for by violations of accounting requirements.

Often they are of a procedural nature, but there are also theft, fraud, and corruption. “Therefore, 37 materials were transferred to law enforcement agencies in 2022, 93 cases were initiated on administrative offenses, 182 officials were held accountable,” she reported. O. head of the joint venture. As a result of this work, 8.9 billion rubles were returned to the treasury. (for more details on the JV report, see “Kommersant” from March 7).

In addition to inspections, in 2022 the joint venture conducted expert reviews of 1,352 draft regulations, including 585 federal bills.

Based on the results of the examinations, 874 recommendations were issued, 506 of which were implemented. Ms. Izotova asked the deputies to use these recommendations more actively in their legislative initiatives. In turn, the chairman of the Duma Control Committee, Oleg Morozov (United Russia), assured that the joint venture responds to almost all the proposals of the deputies, who “with excitement” demand that it be checked as soon as possible. They even had to oblige the committees to discuss their proposals with auditors in advance so that they “do not have a small-town character,” Mr. Morozov complained.

Finally, the deputies turned to questions. Yevgeny Bessonov (KPRF) was interested in whether the joint venture is analyzing the withdrawal of assets from the country and how it is going to correct this situation. Galina Izotova replied that this issue is not within the powers of her department, but if there is an instruction from the Duma, then the joint venture will deal with it. Valery Gartung (Fair Russia – For Truth) asked when the joint venture would check the Russian Post. The head of the department admitted that the state-owned company had not been checked for a very long time, and if the deputies consider it important, the joint venture will plan such an event. “Dear colleagues, we are developing proposals for the plan for conducting inspections and sending them to the Joint Venture. Look at your powers. Who’s in the way?” Vyacheslav Volodin was indignant.

Finally, Mikhail Delyagin (SRZP) allowed himself to show some skepticism, asking Ms. Izotova whether she believes that “due to the methods used, the bulk of violators, perhaps even criminals, remain unpunished.” And about. The head of the joint venture calmly repeated that most of the shortcomings identified were due to “systemic” errors.

Following the discussion, Speaker Volodin proposed amending the Duma’s regulations so that on the eve of the report of the joint venture, its head and auditors would meet with Duma factions and chairmen of relevant committees.

“We take the appropriate obligations and the bar for ourselves, we leave the prevailing comfort, the comfort zone,” he explained. True, later the deputies assured Kommersant that this practice still exists. Thus, members of the labor committee, according to its head Yaroslav Nilov (LDPR), regularly meet with the auditor Sergei Shtogrin, and on the eve of the report of the joint venture, the LDPR faction met with Galina Izotova and auditors. Sergey Gavrilov (KPRF), the head of the committee on property, land and property relations, told Kommersant about “close work” with the joint venture: “This week, on the eve of the report of the joint venture, auditor Andrey Baturkin, with whom we have been constructively cooperating for a long time, presented a very informative data relating to the conduct of our committee.

In their final speeches, the activity of the SP was praised by representatives of all factions. True, Nikolai Kolomeytsev (KPRF) nevertheless complained that after the change in the Constitution, the head of the joint venture was no longer appointed by the State Duma, but by the Federation Council, so “the Duma’s curiosity fell” and it began to send fewer requests to the joint venture. Be that as it may, the deputies approved the report of the control department unanimously (381 in favour).

Ksenia Veretennikova