Insufficient informational systems for the drawdown of EU Structural Funds
Press Release – January 23, 2008
Auditors from the Supreme Audit Office (SAO) focused on the management of state budget funds earmarked for the acquisition and operating of informational systems for the drawdown of EU Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund. From 2001 to 2006, the expenses reached over CZK 254 million.
"The Ministry for Regional Development badly coordinated the realisation and exploitation of the monitoring system of the Structural Funds, as the methodology for the 2004–2006 programme period poorly defined the monitored data, especially their resources and relevance. The methodology for the 2007–2013 programme period was implemented more than 7 months later than had been set by the government,“ said František Dohnal, president of the SAO.
In some cases, incorrect outputs were given by the audited informational systems; sometimes there were no outputs at all. Data transfers among various systems often failed. The audit also revealed that the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Finance placed public orders concerning acquisition and functioning of the audited systems after having called only one prospective tender. The conditions of the acquisition and functioning expenses of the systems were poorly set by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry.
The auditors found several violations of the budgetary discipline: the Ministry for Regional Development paid partly for expenses that should have been paid by the Ministry of Finance; the expenses were worth almost CZK 4 million. The Ministry of Labour paid nearly CZK 1 million for performances that had not fallen within the agreement limitations,“ said Dohnal.
An internal audit revealed earlier that the Ministry of Labour requisitioned over CZK 1,25 million for expenses of the technical assistance of the OP Human Resources Development, but the ministry did not take any corrective measures afterwards. The Ministry of Finance did not perform their internal audits in conformity with the law of financial controlling.
The auditing operation was included into the 2007 Audit Plan of the SAO under No. 07/12. Ludmila Brynychová, Member of the SAO Board, controlled the operation and drew up the audit report as well.
Radka Burketová
Press Speaker
Supreme Audit Office