WITH DEFICIENCES OF VIEW
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The Court of Accounts of the Republic of Moldova, on May 26, examined the audit report on the consolidated financial reports of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) concluded on December 31, 2022.
According to the State Budget Law for the year 2022, in order to achieve the objectives and carry out the operational activities, allocations in the amount of 1504.2 million lei were approved to the Ministry of Finance, which during the year were specified in the amount of 1543.9 million lei, or 39.7 million lei more. The execution against the specified plan was achieved at the level of 91%.
During the CoARM’s meeting, the most relevant audit findings were presented:
- The institutions subordinated to the Ministry of Finance did not regularly apply the general rules for the recognition and classification of non-financial assets and expenses, the balances of some groups of accounts from the consolidated financial report being distorted insignificantly by 9.5 million lei and 0.7 million lei, respectively.
- In 2022, a reduced level of execution of some investment projects in some institutions subordinated to the Ministry of Finance is attested, a fact that affects the achievement of the set objectives within the deadline, as financial resources in the total amount of 89.8 million lei were not capitalized.
- For the capital repair of the State Fiscal Service (SFS) building located in the municipality of Chisinau, 9 Constantin Tănase Street, in 2022, financial resources were approved in the amount of 50.2 million lei, the expenses executed amounting to 0.2 million lei. Although, until December 31, 2022, design services in the amount of 1.7 million lei were carried out at the mentioned objective, the capital repair works were not started, as about ½ of the total area of the building of 9829 m2 was not used. Delays found at the start of the works may necessitate the updating of the project's estimated costs in 2020, as a result of the increase in the prices of construction materials as well as the bearing of additional expenses from the budget.
- A problem identified by the audit relates to the process of institutional reorganization of the Customs Service. Thus, in 2021, the reorganization process started, and starting from 01.07.2021, customs offices operate as territorial subdivisions of the Central Apparatus, without the status of a legal entity, as a result of their merger under the legal norm. The process of reforming the organizational structure is not completed, not having approved the structure, the staff and the staffing schemes for the territorial subdivisions, the draft regulations and the job descriptions according to the new structure.
- Within the MoF and the SFS, there is a low level of assurance with concepts and regulations of the information systems, which were to be developed under the Law on computerization and state information resources no. 467/2003. Also, within the SFS, the audit revealed non-univocal approaches with reference to the accounting of information systems and their components, the development of unaccounted systems and the reflection in the accounting records of related expenses.
- An important aspect is the situation regarding the claims of the bailiffs, the audit revealing an upward trend which on 31.12.2022 totaled 5.6 million lei, of which 3.9 million lei with the payment deadline expired, being an increase of 1.7 million lei compared to 31.12.2021 and 2.4 million lei compared to 31.12.2020, formed as a result of the SFS advancing expenses to 110 bailiffs.
- According to the statement of managerial responsibility for 2022, the managerial internal control system within the Ministry of Finance and its subordinate institutions is partially corresponding to the National Internal Control Standards in the public sector. The audit shows that the existence of deficiencies in the implementation of the internal managerial control system affected the management of expenses, non-financial assets and receivables, a fact that indicates the need to take the appropriate measures in order to consolidate it.
In order to remedy the errors, found by the previous audit, the Court of Accounts submitted 9 recommendations to the Ministry of Finance and its subordinate institutions. Of the overall recommendations, 6 were implemented, and 3 - partially implemented, the level of implementation being of 77.8%.
The Court of Accounts concluded that the audit evidence obtained was sufficient and adequate to provide a basis for expressing a qualified opinion on the consolidated financial reports of the Ministry of Finance concluded on 31.12.2022.
