WITH DEFICIENCES OF VIEW
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The evaluation report on the implementation of the National Integrity and Anti-corruption Strategy (NIAS) 2017-2020 was presented today, December 19, during a public event with the participation of representatives of public entities and civil society. Petru Rotaru, Member of the CoARM, represented the Court of Accounts of the Republic of Moldova (CoARM).
The NIAS implementation assessment exercise was carried out, between May and November 2022, by the Corruption Analysis and Prevention Center (CAPC), within the project implemented by the German International Cooperation Agency.
According to CAPC findings, the impact of CoARM activity at the end of 2020, compared to 2017, has increased significantly. 52 sanctions for acts of corruption found on the basis of the information sent by the Court of Accounts were applied in the period 2017-2020 and a damage of over 5 billion lei caused to the state was recovered, which demonstrates the impact of the CoARM's activity, but also the efficiency of the collaboration with the authorities responsible for investigating and sanctioning corruption, it is mentioned in the evaluation report.
The report also states that there is a divergence between society's perceptions of the activity of the Court of Accounts. Thus, the Court of Accounts is often seen as an institution with punitive functions, which, in fact, do not fall under the mandate of a supreme audit institution and are not provided by the relevant International Standards.
In the aspect of ensuring integrity and fighting corruption, the Court of Accounts has the role of preventing such phenomena, detecting in its audits suspicions of fraud and corruption and informing the bodies empowered with investigative functions. Achieving tangible results in this regard is possible only in close cooperation with the legal bodies, the Government and the Parliament, through their control attributions.
During the discussions with the participation of the implementing authorities, Petru Rotaru, member of the CoARM, noted that the overall objective of the external public audit is the discipline and transparency of the management of public finances and patrimony, both at the level of central and local public authorities. In this way, through the audits carried out and their impact, the Court of Accounts contributes to minimizing the risk of fraud and corruption occurring in the public sector in the future.
We mention that the Court of Accounts was one of the implementing institutions of the National Integrity and Anti-Corruption Strategy 2017-2020, being the 5th pillar of NIAS. The objective of the pillar was to strengthen the capacities of the Court of Accounts to prevent corruption in the field of the administration of financial resources and the use of public patrimony, as well as external financial assistance.
