The BNAO Vice-Presidents Goritsa Grancharova and Toshko Todorov were guests on Darik Radio’s “The Week” program as part of a series of live broadcasts dedicated to the 140^th anniversary since the establishment of the institution and 25 years since its restauration.

During the live discussion, the main objective of all BNAO audits was pointed out – to verify the management of public resources, that is of taxpayers’ money. The speakers explained the different types of audit and how they address their overriding objective from a different perspective.

Goritsa Grancharova and Toshko Todorov gave examples with specific performance, financial, compliance and ad-hoc audits of the financial management of public funds and highlighted their main conclusions and impact.

The BNAO performed two audits on air quality – one national and one in cooperation with other audit institutions in the framework of INTOSAI. Some of the measures to reduce the emissions of fine particulate matter and harmful gases in the capital and large cities include providing financial support for projects for solid fuel for 20 thousand households, purchase of 300 electrical buses, purchase of equipment for an air-control national system and equipment for quality-control stations in 10 cities, as well as organizing an information campaign.

After the audit on organic foods control, new procedures for officials with control functions were established, including monitoring and control of controllers themselves, and information on organic products became more widely available.

After the audit of the Centre for Assisted Reproduction additional 8 million leva were secured to finance the Centre’s activities, the scope of persons eligible for in-vitro procedures was extended, as well as the number of in-vitro trials.

A very important audit in the area of education was the audit on the professional fulfillment of university graduates of Bulgarian nationality, which revealed that the existing system only tracks the people who study in Bulgaria and not the ones studying abroad. This gives no information on the so-called “brain drain” from Bulgaria, pointed out Ms. Grancharova.

Worrying negative trends were established in the sphere of culture – as part of the audits of the National Library “St. Cyril and Methodius” and the audit on the preservation of the architectural heritage in urban areas. In the case of the national library, chronic underfunding, lack of facilities and serious shortage of experts were established, and the implementation of the BNAO recommendations is still to be followed-up.

Accountability is the prerequisite for good management, because it serves as the basis for qualified managerial decisions at a local and national level, stressed Ms. Grancharova. In 2019, the BNAO audited the financial reports of 252 organizations, of which 160 municipalities, 55 ministries and government agencies and 37 higher education institutions. Positive news is the fact that 87% of the reports presented correctly and fairly the financial situation of the audited entities, which was mostly due to the corrections to incorrect reporting done during the audits. The number of positive views has grown to 54%, while the number of negative views has dropped by 94%.

A horizontal audit on administering local taxes and fees by municipalities was performed. The reform, whereby local taxes and fees began to be collected by the National Revenue Agency, was carried out in 2005. The audit showed that it has fulfilled its objective to increase the revenues of municipalities, pointed out Mr. Todorov.

In other compliance audits the BNAO established that payments were made where the respective projects had not been fulfilled. During the audit of one municipality, it was established that no roads had been build. As a result, 9 pre-litigation procedures were initiated. In another case, no water dam was built.

The BNAO established that a state enterprise operating in the gambling sector paid higher taxes than the private companies, and that no control existed over their activities.

“Following the audit of the National Railway Company “Freight Services”, not one of the BNAO recommendations were implemented. That is why we referred to the legislation which allowed us to request the dismissal of the then Director of the enterprise”, said Toshko Todorov.

The BNAO plans to perform three audits on a very topical subject – the spending of public funds to fight COVID-19 – namely, of the related economic measures, social support measures and the measures to support agricultural producers.

It is of paramount importance that the BNAO recommendations are not only formally implemented, but also lead to substantive changes in the management of the audited entities and hence – in the value-added from their work leading to improved quality of life of all Bulgarian citizens, pointed out Goritsa Grancharova and Toshko Todorov.

The two Vice-Presidents thanked all present and past BNAO auditors and employees for their professionalism and dedication, as well as the BNAO Presidents and Members in service since the restauration of the institution in 1995, for their efforts to establish and strengthen the role of the Supreme Audit Institution.

The broadcast is available here:

https://darikradio.bg/toshko-todorov-i-gorica-grancharova-v-sedmicata.html