The Audit Office members are selected and appointed based on political criteria, not on integrity and professionalism, while the fact that the candidates are not examined beforehand allows persons with flawed reputation to enter the institution, said Transparency International Moldova, which assessed the National Integrity System within a project that is financially supported by the European Commission.
In a news conference at IPN, Transparency International (TI) Moldova expert Ianina Spinei said that though the Audit Office enjoys financial independence, it is not able to bring foreign experts to audit Moldovan financial institutions.
The Audit Office does not experience a shortage of personnel and even ensures the professional and anti-corruption training of the staff, but there are cases when the ethical norms and the post-employment restrictions are not obeyed. Thus, former members of the Audit Office work for institutions that they earlier examined, this being a post-employment restriction.
The expert underlined that the relations between the Audit Office and Parliament over the last few years have improved. However, the experts consider that the cooperation between the two entities is insufficient as there are no procedures that would regulate this cooperation.
Though the legislation says that the annual financial reports of the Audit Office must be subject to foreign auditing by an international organization selected by Parliament by contest, this condition hasn’t been yet fulfilled.
Another conclusion concerns the Audit Office’s reports on the violation of the legislation regarding the use of financial resources and management of public property. According to TI Moldova, a large part of the Audit Office’s recommendations are not implemented because there are no penalties for the violation of the legislation by members of decisional bodies and parliamentary commissions.
The main recommendations for improving the situation at the Audit Office include the preliminary examination by the Security and Information Service of the candidates for posts within the institution and the appointment by Parliament of representatives of the opposition as members of the executive bodies of the Audit Office. Also, Parliament should monitor the implementation of the Audit Office’s decisions and hold a contest to select an international company to examine the institution’s financial report.
Transparency International Moldova appraised the National Integrity System within the National Integrity System Assessments in European Neighborhood East Region Project that covers five EaP member states.
